


To the Ends of the Earth

by Dragonfruitkiss



Category: Warcraft - All Media Types, Warcraft III
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Guilt, Out of Character, Panic Attacks, Peggy Sue Fic, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Redemption, Suicide mention, Swearing, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:15:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 30,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25084516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragonfruitkiss/pseuds/Dragonfruitkiss
Summary: After years of neverending nigthmare, Arthas's reign as the Lich King is finally put to an end. He dies, but instead of going to the afterlife, he's sent back to the time when he was 19 years old with all of his memories from the other life that he had lived when he become the Lich King. Shocked and panicked of what happened and might happen again, he leaves home and sets on a journey to stop the horrors of the Plague from ever happening.
Relationships: Arthas Menethil & Jaina Proudmoore, Arthas Menethil & Jaina Proudmoore & Kael'thas Sunstrider, Arthas Menethil & Kael'thas Sunstrider, Jaina Proudmoore & Kael'thas Sunstrider
Comments: 32
Kudos: 45





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!! So this is my first Warcraft fic ever. Warcraft was a big part of my childhood, but I've only ever played Warcraft II and (mainly) Warcraft III. I just replayed Warcraft III again and I started reading lore cause I honestly knew nothing else than what's shown in the third game. I'm doing a lot of research about the characters and the world to write this, but please excuse me if I'm messing some things up. I've never played WoW. 
> 
> I really hate how the game lets everyone get corrupted and then they need to be killed cause there is no such thing as redemption. With this fic I want to fix some things.
> 
> The characters will be ooc because the things change so much and their experiences will be really different.
> 
> Rustfeather helped me a lot with planning the story.
> 
> This is just a short prologue, but I hope you enjoy it nevertheless. I'll tag more as the story progresses.

What was left of his strength was leaving his body quickly, flowing away with the crimson blood gushing from the fatal wounds that his body had sustained. After many years of serving the Scourge, leading them, he had finally gotten his soul back.

It also brought the pain.

Even if his body was hurting like never before, it was nothing compared to the unbearable pain that was tormenting his heart. He could never atone for the limitless number of sins he had committed. He had killed countless of innocent people, his people and others, everyone who he should have protected. He had cursed them with fate worse than death, not even granting peace to their souls. He hadn’t shown mercy to anyone - not to women, not to children, not to elderly. He was eternally grateful for these heroes for finally putting an end to the nightmare that he had been trapped in. Even more happy than having his own soul back, he was that everyone else, who he had struck down with Frostmourne, were free as well. Frostmourne, shattered to pieces, would no longer devour any souls.

He was looking at the freed spirit of his father, his sight quickly getting dimmer and dizzier. He didn’t understand how his father could still look at him like that after everything he had done. Terenas hadn’t stopped loving him.

There was no way anyone could ever forgive him. No one  _ should _ ever forgive him.

His gaze slipped down from Terenas, as he looked into nothing, quickly losing his grip on the life.

He had forsaken Light. If he had only trusted in the Holy Light, maybe things hadn’t gotten this bad? Maybe he hadn’t become the Lich King and he wouldn’t have lost his soul?

“I see… only darkness… before me.”

In the arms of his father’s spirit, his eyes rolled back and his body went limp. The life left his body.

Arthas Menethil, the Lich King, had died.

\---

For a moment there was nothing. Arthas didn’t know how he knew that it had only been a short moment, a blink of an eye, but he knew it. It was like he had just fallen asleep dead-tired and then he had been woken, not startled, but leaving him feel completely exhausted.

He hadn’t expected himself to be allowed to rest in peace, but it was still a shame.

There was only darkness. That much he had expected, but he was waiting for some sort of torment to begin.

Then bewilderment filled him. He could see light in the distance, growing bigger and stronger. Arthas didn’t know how he was able to see it, for he had no body. It had been left behind when his soul had left Azeroth and travelled to a different realm.

The light grew bigger and got closer to him. It was so bright that it hurt him to look at it, but he was unable to look away. Light had come to judge him and he deserved any punishment that’d be sentenced to him.

It was like Arthas was looking into the sun as he stared at the pure manifestation of Light in front of him. Guilt and remorse filling him were overwhelming and he wanted to cry. There were no words to describe the self hatred that he felt. Why had he been so weak? Why had he let the Legion to lead him to the corruption so easily? Why had he let it all happen?!

“Arthas Menethil, son of Terenas,” the Light spoke.

Arthas was utterly taken by surprise. He was not worthy of Light to speak to him. The voice was melodic and echoed all around Arthas. He couldn’t tell if it sounded male or female, it was something different, something out of his world.

“How sad I was to watch you fall from Light,” the voice continued.

Arthas felt awful. He was very aware of his sins, but hearing a being of pure Light telling how disappointed They were, broke his heart. If he could kill himself over and over again, he’d do that if it’d just do any good.

“No, that wouldn’t solve anything,” the Light said.

The Light could read his mind?

“Yes, I can read your mind. I can see right through you and I know that you never wanted any of this to happen.”

No. If Arthas had only known the horrors that had followed his actions... If he had just known that he wasn’t fighting to save his people, but to lead them to the hands of the enemy. Why had it all had to end like this?!

“End? No, my son, this is not the end,” the Light said, Their melodic voice flowing through Arthas mind.

“ _ What?”  _ Arthas thought.

“The horrors that the Scourge and you committed are too much for me to accept. You need to stop it from happening. It is time for you to redeem yourself.”

“ _ I- I don’t understand…” _

“I believe in you, Arthas Menethil. Please, don’t disappoint me again,” the Light said and started dimming.

“ _ Wait! I don’t understand! How could I-”  _ Arthas had millions of questions that he wanted to ask, but the Light was disappearing. He tried to go after it, but was unable to move.

The darkness returned, engulfing him, and he lost his consciousness again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! Comments are very much appreciated (they make me write faster hahah)!
> 
> I have no update schedule with this story cause I really can't promise anything.
> 
> See you later!!


	2. Chapter I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthas travels back in time to when he was 19 years old. He panics.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!!
> 
> Thank you everyone who read the prologue! This chapter is a bit longer. I really hope you'll enjoy this!
> 
> Betaread by Rustfeather ^^

“How is your paladin training going, son?”

Arthas blinked his blue-green eyes and turned to look at his father who was sitting at the head of the long dinner table. He was smiling at him, always interested to hear how his training was going.

It was evening and the time of the royal dinner. In addition to the royal family there were a dozen people, noble men and women, dining with them. It was very rare for the family to dine without any guests or close friends of theirs. Right now everyone of the guests was listening to the king speak and they were waiting for their prince to answer.

The dining room was grand. The wooden furnitures were decorated with fine carvings and on the walls were hanging Lordaeron’s tabards and banners as well as beautiful curtains, made from the finest silk. There was a gorgeous fireplace, crystal chandeliers and the food was the best that could be found from the kingdom. This room could host up to thirty people at the time which was usually enough. For bigger feasts and such they had a separate hall that was used in important occasions such as royal celebrations.

Arthas smiled at Terenas and answered more politely than he would if it were only family present. “There’s a lot to learn, but I’m learning from the best mentors one could possibly find.” He was nineteen years old and had joined the Order of the Silver Hand a couple of months earlier and since then he had been training to become a fully trained paladin. Paladins were extremely respected holy knights and for a long time, he had known that it was his future to become one of them.

Uther chuckled, sitting across the table. “Flattery won’t make me go any easier on you, boy,” the legendary paladin said, but Arthas could tell that he was pleased. “And you’re not giving enough credit to yourself.” He turned to look at the king. “Prince Arthas is a quick learner and Muradin taught him well. Now he just needs to find a connection to the Holy Light and we’ll polish his fighting to be more paladin like.” Uther turned to look at Arthas. “I have no doubt he’ll become something great one day.”

Arthas smiled. He knew that Uther was fond of him. He was a highly respected warrior, devoted servant of the Holy Light, and a friend of his father. He had been a part of Arthas’s life for as long as he could remember and now he was his mentor.

“I just want to do what I can to serve my people,” Arthas said. It was true. For his whole life he had been prepared to become the king one day and his father had taught him well. The king was serving the people just as much as they were serving him. That duty would one day be his to bear and he wanted to be prepared to be a wise and courageous ruler.

Terenas nodded approvingly. “You’re doing great, son,” he said. “I can’t help but wonder that if I had been younger when the Order was founded, could I have also become a paladin? Sometimes I think it’s a shame that I didn’t have the chance to choose that path.”

Uther smiled at Terenas. “You were too busy running a kingdom in the middle of wars. But your grace would have made a great paladin, had it been your destiny,” he said.

Arthas had been chewing food when a weird feeling made him frown and his chews to slow and quickly come to a stop. He didn’t know what caused the feeling, just like he wasn’t sure what it felt like. It wasn’t unpleasant nor pleasant, but it made him uneasy since he didn’t know what was the cause of it. It was just really weird. He forced himself to swallow down the food that he had been chewing even if he suddenly didn’t feel so hungry anymore.

“What?”

Arthas turned to look at his sister, Calia, who had asked the question quietly and met his look with a frown.

“What?” Arthas asked as well, not knowing what Calia meant.

“Why are you looking like that?” Calia asked. “You’re frowning suddenly almost like you remembered something.”

“I just… suddenly feel weird,” Arthas said and turned his head. His eyes met with his mother, Lianne, who was looking at him, frowning, slightly worried. Arthas offered her a smile, which she returned and turned her attention back to her husband.

“It’s never too late to learn more about the Light,” Uther said to the king.

Terenas chuckled. “I suppose you’re right. However, I doubt that I would ever learn to wield it, no matter how much I practiced.”

After forcing another bite of roasted chicken down his throat, Arthas set down his fork and knife. He didn’t feel like eating anymore and even the last few bites had been hard. He stared at his food and his stomach turned. Yes, he was definitely done with eating.

The people at the table continued their happy chattering, but Arthas was no longer following it. He was too focused on the growing weird feeling and trying to figure out what it meant or where it came from.

A moment later Arthas let out a quiet moan, screwed his eyes shut and leaned his forehead on his hand. He had started to feel dizzy and nauseous and he had a headache.

“Arthas?” Lianne asked from across the table.

“Son, are you alright?” Terenas asked.

"I'm feeling a little unwell is all," the prince said.

"Is something wrong with the food?” Before Arthas managed to answer, she was already continuing: “You have been training so hard," Lianne said, frowning in concern. "You need to remember to rest as well."

"I'm fine, mother. Don't worry," Arthas said and as he lifted up his gaze, he saw that everyone was watching him. “Oh, please, don’t mind me. Continue, enjoy your dinner,” he said and forced a smile. To his relief everyone soon returned to their earlier conversation.

As minutes passed, Arthas’s condition was only getting worse - quickly. He sat as straight as he could, staring blankly at his plate and doing his best to keep his expression neutral, which was getting harder and harder every moment. His ears had started to ring with a continuous, high sound and the aching of his head was getting painful. He was feeling hot and cold at the same time and he was sweating. He started to feel anxious as a voice in the back of his mind whispered that maybe whatever he had was more serious than he wanted to believe.

Arthas was biting his cheek not to groan in discomfort. It was getting harder to keep the noises of his uneasiness locked away behind his lips when he had to start breathing through his mouth. His heart was beating faster in distress.

He was sure that he had never had a fever rising so quickly.

Arthas’s dizziness grew and hot waves washed over his body. The persistent sound in his ear was only getting more noticeable and obtrusive. He was starting to feel like if he didn’t lay down, he’d pass out.

He could stay still any longer!

The laughter at the table died when Arthas stood up suddenly and stumbled forward until he leaned to the table with his hands and managed to somewhat steady himself. Arthas was hanging his head and his body was shaking. His vision had blurred with the headrush.

"Arthas, dear! You look as pale as a corpse!" Lianne said, her eyes widening in concern. She pushed her chair back a little, ready to stand up and to go to her son's aid if needed. Quickly, she turned to look at Terenas, worry written all over her face. “It couldn’t be poison, could it?” she asked, gravely. Suddenly the atmosphere in the room got twice as concerned as before.

Terenas expression turned instantly into serious, but he remained calm. “No, it couldn’t be. The food has been tasted and we have all been eating the same food,” he said. “Arthas, what is wrong?”

Arthas closed his eyes and took in a deep breath before opening them and straightening his back. He felt like his feet might give in under him, but he pushed himself to offer a tiny, slightly apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry everyone, but I'm afraid that I need to retreat back to my chambers," he said and to his disappointment his voice wasn't as steady and strong as he had hoped. “I’m alright, just feeling a bit feverish,” he reassured. He bowed a little and started walking away as quickly as he dared without leaning to the wall for support. "Excuse me." A wave of hot was creeping up his neck and he knew that if he kept on standing up like this, he'd faint. He just had to get back to his room, back to his bed, and he’d be fine. He felt uncomfortable that people had seen him this weak already, not to mention if he’d pass out.

"Do you need help? One of the guards could-" Terenas tried to suggest, but Arthas was quick to decline.

"I'm fine, father. But thank you." His head was hurting so much that he had to bite his lip to keep quiet and face straight.

"Are you sure?" Lianne asked

Arthas disappeared through the door quickly, waving his hand to give a quick answer to his mother without needing to say anything out loud.

"He started looking sick so suddenly," Lianne said in worry, looking at the now closed door. “Do you think he'll be fine?" she asked, turning to look at Terenas.

He gave a reassuring smile back to the queen, but couldn’t disguise all of his own worry from his look. "Of course he will."

"I think you're right," Lianne said and moved her gaze back to the door. "But I should go check on him in any case," she said as she pushed her chair back and stood up.

"You can sit down, your grace," Uther said and stood up himself. "I'll go see that he's fine." With that he walked to the door, bowed to the people in the room, then left.

\---

As soon as the door had closed behind Arthas, he hissed and leaned heavily against the wall. He took a couple of deep breaths, then continued his painful way back to his room as the dizziness in his eyes had cleared even the slightest. However, it got back as soon as he had made a few steps. Arthas clenched his teeth and knew that he just had to be quick and get to his bed before he'd collapse.

Sweat was getting his blue tunic wet and his breathing had gotten faster and shallower. Arthas was now walking forward only with his sheer willpower. He was leaning to the wall for support with his entire lower arm, occasionally even with his shoulder, while gripping his head.

He couldn’t help but worry that maybe he really had been poisoned. If that’d be the case, then it was incredibly stupid that he had left the dining room where he might receive help if he suddenly started to suffocate or something. Still, at the same time he found it really hard to believe that someone would have managed to poison only him.

“ _ Light, please, let it be only a fever.” _

Arthas’s headache had grown unbearable. He screwed his eyes shut and groaned in pain. His head was spinning more than before and he stumbled against the wall.

“ _ No! Let me get to my room first,”  _ he thought anxiously, the ringing in his ears merging with the pain and filling his mind. The last thing that he could see, before losing consciousness, was extremely bright light, so bright and extraordinary that it felt like it shone straight through him.

\---

Arthas’s eyebrows knit together and he groaned groggily as his consciousness returned. Instantly a feeling that something was very,  _ very _ wrong hit him.

“Arthas, are you awake? Are you alright, lad?”

Arthas eyes shot open and he saw Uther sitting next to his bed, looking concerned.

That’s when it all hit him. He started screaming unintelligibly from the top of his lungs. His eyes were wide open, but the look in them was unseeing. He gripped the sides of his head as unimaginably horrific memories flooded into his mind like a tidal wave, agony filling his heart.

“Arthas!”

Years worth of memories were suddenly crowding Arthas’s mind, horrors beyond imagination nearly crushing him. He screamed in terror and pain that was brought by the memories. Tears were quickly gathering into his eyes. He felt like his head could just split open from the intensity of the pain.

“Are you hurting?”

Arthas felt a hand being laid on his shoulder which made him jolt and quickly shake the hand away. “Don’t touch me!!” he screamed, turning to look at surprised Uther, as he dashed out of the bed to the other side from the veteran paladin. Tears were streaming down on Arthas’s cheeks as he hugged himself, hyperventilating and staring at Uther with a terrified look.

He had killed him! He had killed everyone!!

Arthas grimaced in pain, gripping the sides of his head again. He continued screaming as memories came to him like stabs of a dagger, but now the screams were broken by sobs every now and then.

He had killed them! He had lost his very soul and become a monster! He had been the Lich King, leading his people to the destruction as well as so many others!

Arthas’s screaming turned into loud, hysterical crying.

“Speak to me, son! What’s the matter?” Uther asked and Arthas sensed how the older man almost touched him again and he jumped backwards against the wall of the room that he now recognized to be his own old bedroom.

“Don’t touch me!” he repeated. He was hugging himself, pressed against the wall and hanging his head low. He couldn’t meet Uther’s eyes.

The plague, the undead, Frostmourne… The countless crimes he had committed. It was too much to take in!

“Wha-what’s happening?!” Arthas sobbed in panic. “Wh-why am I here? Why…” He glanced at Uther, but was careful not to meet his eyes. “I- I- I’m so s-sorry, Uther… I- I wasn’t my-myself a-and I would have n-never done that, b-but I couldn’t disobey th-the Lich King… I- I’m so sorry! I- I betrayed you a-and-”

“Arthas, calm down,” Uther said reassuringly, holding his palms up. “I have no clue of what you’re talking about. What did you do, lad?” he asked in confusion.

“I-it’s all my fault…” Arthas sobbed. Then his eyes widened in shock and surprise as he actually understood that Uther was standing right in front of him. “Wh-what’s going on? A-are you not dead?” he asked.

“What? No, I’m not dead,” Uther answered even more confused.

Different emotions flashed on Arthas’s face as he tried to decipher the situation he was in. “B-but how did you survive? I- I know that Frostmourne- The undead- Ho-how can we be here when we- you lost Lordaeron in the third war?”

“Third war? What are you talking about?” Uther asked in surprise. “There have only been two wars.”

“Wh-what?” Arthas asked. He met Uther’s eyes briefly with his teary ones, but quickly averted his look.

Uther was frowning incredulously. “Arthas, I don’t know what you’re talking about, but please calm down. You started feeling unwell and left the dinner. I came to make sure that you were alright and found you collapsed on the floor not too far from the dining room. Then I carried you here,” he explained.

Arthas gasped erratically, staring wide-eyed into somewhere in the distance. He remembered that! He remembered how he had started to feel awful, how he had left the dinner and then he had passed out. And the memory felt fresh. But at the same time he  _ knew  _ that the memories that were now crowding his mind were his as well. He had done all of that. All of it had happened, but…

At the same time, maybe it hadn’t? Not in this life, not yet?

“Th-there hasn’t been the third war?” Arthas asked as he walked to his drawer.

“No,” Uther answered. “Arthas, what-”

“Wh-when did the second war end?” He opened the second highest drawer.

“Arthas, wh-”

“Please, answer,” Arthas asked and picked up a mirror.

Uther sighed. “It’s been… seven years, if I’m not mistaken.”

Arthas stared at his tear-stained face and red, puffy eyes from the mirror. His teeth were clenched together as he tried to hold back his sobs without much success. His face was pale but not unnaturally grey and instead of bone white, his hair was golden blond. His face was young, years younger than when he had lost his soul.

Suddenly a memory of a voice echoed clearly in his mind: “ _ The horrors that the Scourge and you did are too much for me to accept. You need to stop it from happening. It is time for you to redeem yourself _ .”

“I tr-traveled back in time…” Arthas mumbled to himself as the realization hit him.

“What did you say?” Uther asked.

Arthas turned to look at him. “F-father and mother, C-Calia, they’re all well?” he asked.

“Of course they are,” Uther answered and walked carefully closer to Arthas. “What makes you act like this? Arthas, please, look at me.”

Arthas shook his head, fat tears rolling down his cheeks. He still didn’t understand what was going on. Was this real? Had he really moved back in time? However, one thing he was sure of and that was that he had been the Lich King and he had killed so many of his people, Uther and his father.

Suddenly he felt sick and he covered his mouth with his hand. His stomach was turning awfully.

“Arthas?” Uther asked. Before he had time to help him, Athas had hastily picked up a bowl that he had for washing his face and hands and thrown up into it.

“It’s okay. Let me help you,” Uther said and placed his hand on Arthas’s back.

That made Arthas jolt, jumping further from the man and looking at him with a scared look. “Don’t touch me! Pl-please!” he said, placed down the bowl and wrapped one arm around his aching stomach. He didn’t want Uther to touch him, not when he was foul and corrupted. He had abandoned the Light so easily and he… he was a monster. He didn’t deserve a second chance or redemption.

“Arthas, son. What’s troubling your mind so?” Uther asked, his tone soft.

Arthas was wiping his tears and snot into his sleeve. He didn’t deserve to be alive, not after everything he had done - or with everything he would do. Yet, there he was, back in the time when he still had had a bright future and people who cared about him. When he had still been walking on the Light’s path.

He sniffled, biting his lip. He had to get away from the Capital City! He couldn’t be there anymore now that he knew what he had become. He had to get out!

Quickly Arthas passed Uther while keeping as much distance between them as he could. He went to his wardrobe, opened it and found a good-sized bag. He took it, tossed it on the bed and started gathering some basic clothes.

“What are you doing?” Uther asked a little warily.

“I- I need to go,” Arthas said while stuffing clothes into the back.

“Isn’t that a bit drastic?”

“Be-believe me, it’s not,” the prince answered.

“I could believe you if you only explained everything to me,” Uther said.

Arthas shook his head. “I- I can’t. Bu-but I have to leave,” he said, packing in a hurry.

“Arthas, stop for a minute!” Uther said, louder, summoning his authority.

Arthas was startled and he stopped, but didn’t look at the other. His breathing was fast and shallow.

Uther sighed. “Thank you. Now, let me bless you with the Holy Light. Let it calm your mind and help you.”

“No!!” Arthas screamed, actually climbing over his bed when Uther stepped closer to him to gain distance. He looked at the older paladin with wide, fearful eyes. “I’m not worthy of the Light! I-I’m a horrible, horrible man and Light would never accept someone like me!”

“What are you talking about?” Uther asked. “You’re a paladin! Light did accept you!” With his hand he waved towards the corner of the room where Arthas’s armors and weapons were kept. There was also his paladin’s hammer, Light’s Vengeance, and shoulderplates.

Arthas’s heart skipped a beat at the sight of them. He had given them away without any remorse, just like he had forsaken Light. He could never be worthy of them, not when he had been the Lich King - this life or other, it didn’t matter. Maybe the Light would even scorch him now like other undead and honestly, he’d deserve that.

Arthas glanced at Uther briefly. “I- I can’t be a paladin. No-not anymore. I’m sorry,” he sobbed.

“What in the Light’s name is going on?! Arthas, why are you suddenly acting like this?!”

Arthas didn’t answer. He only continued tossing stuff into his bag.

“Listen, son,” Uther said much softer. “Almost everyone has a crisis with their faith at some point. What you’re feeling is normal, but you’ll see that Light loves you and that you are worthy of wielding it.”

Arthas sniffled and put the bag on his shoulder. He wiped off some tears and said: “Tell my father that I’m sorry and that I need to go.”

“You can’t be serious about leaving,” Uther said. Arthas glanced at him and his expression told that he was dead serious. “Where would you even go?”

“D-doesn’t matter… I j-just need to get away.”

“Okay, Arthas, this is getting too big for me to handle alone,” Uther said calmly. “Now I need you to just sit down and think this through again while I’ll go fetch your father. The dinner should have ended by now. And don’t you even think about leaving while I’m gone.”

Arthas’s eyes widened. “D-don’t involve my father in this,” he said. He couldn’t see him too. It was painful enough to see Uther after what he had done. “I- I need to go now.”

“No. You’ll see your father and he can decide what we should do,” Uther said, walking to the door. “I’m concerned about you and I’m afraid I must order guards at your door to prevent you from running away. I really hope that’s overreacting, but I must do what’s the best for you.”

“Uther, no.”

“We’ll sort this out together,” Uther said, offering the other a reassuring smile. “May the Light guide your path.” With that he left the room and closed the heavy door after him. Arthas could hear how he ordered guards to wait there and not let anyone, even the prince, leave or enter.

Arthas was standing at the center of his room, the bag on his shoulder. He walked to the door as soon as Uther was gone and opened it. Instantly two guards stepped in front of him. Their eyes widened as they saw his tearstained face.

“Prince Arthas!” younger one of the guards said. “What happened?”

Arthas’s eyes were cast to the floor. "Nothing you need to worry about right now. I- I need to go,” he said and tried to walk past them. However, the two men blocked his way. The younger guard seemed more hesitant than the older one, who met Arthas’s eyes without shying away.

“I’m sorry, your grace, but Lord Uther gave us an order not to let you leave,” the older man said. “I need to ask you to return to your room.”

Arthas gritted his teeth and swallowed down a new sob. “Let me go!” he said more firmly.

The guard shook his head. “Lord Uther said that you’re not thinking clearly right now and that this involves the king. You’re the prince, but if this concerns the king, we can’t let you go.”

Arthas knew that they were good guards and only doing their job. He wouldn’t fight his way through them. He would never again raise a weapon against his people.

He made a tiny nod, turned around and closed the door after himself. He didn’t want to fight if it wasn’t the only way for him to get out. And now luckily it wasn’t.

His room had only two narrow windows, but the room was located too high that he could use them safely. He was glad that he didn’t need to try his luck with them.

Arthas dashed to the wall beside his bed. In a hurry he pushed a hanging tapestry aside and revealed a small door. Each member of the royal family had a secret exit built into the wall of their rooms. Arthas had never thought that he’d need to use it for a reason like this. As he opened the door, a new wave of intrusive memories, memories that physically disgusted him, made his breathing hitch. He screwed his eyes shut, seeing on repeat how he had escaped through this very same exit when the dreadlords had wanted him dead. A low wail left his mouth.

He wiped off tears as he opened his eyes, then clenched his teeth and bolted into the narrow staircase. He didn’t bother closing the door after himself, Uther and his father would know that he had used the secret exit as soon as they saw that he wasn’t in his room.

Arthas ran the stairs down, nearly falling for a couple of times in his hurry. In no time he reached the door that’d lead outside the main walls of the palace. The secret door was disguised, both physically and magically, to look exactly like the wall from the outside. Arthas opened it hastily, his hands shaking. When the door finally opened, he dashed outside, closing it in a hurry, and then he started running again.

The sun had set a while ago and the sky was darkening, the shadows on the ground growing and merging together. The streets were occasionally lit up with torches which Arthas would normally be grateful for, yet now he was hoping that people wouldn’t recognize him.

Of course he had no such luck.

He turned heads as he stormed down the streets of the Capital City. Most of the time people only stared, but every now and then someone called his name in surprise or asked what was wrong, concerned for him and their safety. Arthas didn’t answer in any way, he only continued running.

After a short while he reached the royal stables. He was panting heavily, but he didn’t stop to catch his breath. He opened the first stall and stepped in. The horse, a beautiful, brown mare, was startled, but when Arthas talked to her calmingly, she only puffed air through her nose, calmed and let Arthas lead her out of the stall to be saddled.

Sudden wave of sadness hit him, like a knife in his heart. Gasping for a breath, Arthas realized that in this life, not the one where he had become a monster, Invincible had died only a few months earlier. That too was entirely his fault. Sorrow filled him as he thought of his late steed. 

“Hey! What’s the meaning of- Prince Arthas?!”

Arthas was snapped out of his thoughts and he turned to look at the vice stable master, a man in his early forties, who was often in charge of the stables during night time. The two of them knew each other on a personal level since Arthas had spent so much time in the stables with Invincible.

“What happened?” he asked, his surprise turning into worry.

Arthas averted his eyes, trying to hide his face behind his hair. “I need to go, immediately. Help me get this horse ready,” he said. He had already taken the nearest bridle that he had found and he started putting it on the horse. “Saddle.”

The vice stable master blinked. “Of course. Right away,” he said and jogged to get a saddle.

Arthas was fastening the bridle straps quickly and with expertise. He had done it countless times before since he had always loved horses. As he was fumbling with the buckles, two more men appeared from the breakroom, looking unsure. They were staring at Arthas, but didn’t dare to ask the dozens of questions that they had.

“Umm, can we help?” one of them asked.

The vice stable master returned with a saddle which he placed on the horse’s back. Arthas pushed him out of the way and started fastening the saddle himself, so the man moved to finish with the bridle.

Arthas didn’t even turn to look at the two men standing there awkwardly. He was clenching his teeth together as he fastened the girth. “What’s the horse called?” he asked.

“She’s Marigold, your grace.”

Arthas nodded, adjusting the stirrups for him.

“Your grace,” the vice stable master started. “I don’t know what is the cause of your distress, but are you sure it’s a good idea to ride into the night?” he asked carefully.

“I have no choice,” Arthas said, his voice shaking. He finished with the other stirrup and took the reins from the man. With that he jumped onto the saddle and kicked Marigold lightly with his heels. The horse made a small noise, then trotted out of the stables. Arthas had to lean down not to hit his head to the door frame. He didn’t look back as he left.

Arthas gripped the reins tightly, urging Marigold to run faster. She started to gallop. Arthas was grateful for the well-trained horse. He had to get out of the city as soon as possible.

People on the streets yelled in surprise as a horse suddenly galloped right past them and they made way in a hurry, not to get trampled. Arthas mind was working in one track - he had killed them all, he had brought the downfall of his kingdom, he had to get away from there! These things kept repeating and repeating in his head.

A moment later he reached the main gates of the city. They’d soon be closed for the night, but lucky for him, now he didn’t need to stop and ask them to be opened. Two guards were standing in guard there on the ground level, more were on duty on the walls. They were in full armor, their backs turned at Arthas, and they hadn’t yet heard him coming.

“Out of the way!!” Arthas practically screamed as Marigold galloped forward.

The guards jumped, turning around in a hurry, taking out their swords. From their expressions and surprise, Arthas could tell that they had recognized him and hastily they moved out of his way. A moment later Arthas galloped past them, leaving them to look after him in puzzlement.

Arthas whipped the reins now that he was out in the open. He followed the road without thinking where he was going. It didn’t matter. Anywhere was better than in a city he had once helped to destroy. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! Any thoughts?


	3. Chapter II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthas arrives to Dalaran.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!!
> 
> Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy it!!

The city of Dalaran was basking in the warm sunlight. The city was incredibly clean and had a magical feeling hovering in the air around it. Dalaran was even more glorious than Lordaeron City with its brightness that was caused by the mages living in there. It was early afternoon and the people of the city were busy with their work at the marketplace next to the main gates. A lot of people were there buying food for their families and the air was filled with chattering.

Suddenly the peace of the afternoon was broken when a horse galloped into the clearing, causing some disarray. People were running out of the way, shouting in surprise.

Arthas pulled the reins, stopping the horse that was more than happy to obey. Marigold was shaking and panting from exhaustion, her light brown hair now dark from sweat and she had white foam at the sides of her mouth.

Before Arthas could do anything, half a dozen mages, dressed in violet robes, ran towards him and had quickly surrounded him, taking positions for using magic on him. Two of them were using staffs, the others their hands that had started to glow with magic. Then, after only a few seconds had passed since Arthas had made his appearance, one of the mages recognized the prince on the horse.

“Prince Arthas?!” the woman said, eyes wide and lowering her hands. She had long, brown hair and strong eye makeup with purple eyeshadow. The other mages followed her example, surprised to recognize the prince. “What are you doing here? Did something happen in the Capital City?!”

Arthas was trying to catch his breath, shaking badly and staring blankly in front of himself. He was looking pale, his hair and clothes were a mess after the long ride and he had dark circles under his eyes. He hadn’t slept at all during the night. He had only had a short break sometime in the middle of the night to let Marigold rest for a while. During the entire journey he had managed to calm down only a little. His thoughts had been going around in circles for the whole time, thinking of the countless sins that he had committed. He had been the Lich King. He really had been the monster commanding the armies of undead, unleashing them upon the innocent. Arthas still hadn’t recovered from the shock. It felt unbelievable, yet he knew that it was true, he had no doubt about that.

He still had no idea what he was actually supposed to do, but one thing he knew clearer than anything - he had to stop the Plague from happening. He had to protect the people of Azeroth from the Lich King! 

Upon arriving to Dalaran a new wave of flashbacks had hit Arthas, dragging him deep into his memories. He had killed so many. He had caused so much pain. The blood of the mages were on his hands. He had helped Archimonde to enter Azeroth and destroy Dalaran!

In his state Arthas was only half aware of his surroundings. The past, the present and the future were mixed in his mind as he relived the attack that he had led to Dalaran in horror. 

It had taken Arthas hours to even realize that it had been Dalaran where he had been heading. He wasn’t sure why he had ridden there. Why had he escaped a city which destruction he had largely been in charge of only to go into another one? He didn’t know, but maybe it was because he didn’t have a place to go other than home and Dalaran was one of the few places where he had traveled and from where he had good memories. Also a part of him wanted to make sure that the city of Dalaran was still standing.

However, a part of him wanted to meet Jaina. Now with all the memories from his other life, it felt like it had been ages since he had seen her and he missed her really much. He knew that he shouldn’t have come. It was selfish of him to look for comfort from her even if it was just seeing her and talking to her. Still after everything he had done in his other life, he didn’t deserve to be her friend.

As a paladin, Ballador the Bright, had told him, he deserved a gruesome death. He was right. Arthas knew that he deserved nothing more.

Yet there he was in Dalaran, hoping to see his old friend and to make sure that she too was fine.

“The third war,” Arthas blurted out, the look in his eyes unstable. He coughed, his throat dry and hurting. When had he last drank anything? The people around him tensed up, some onlookers gasping. “It’s coming! Everything will be destroyed and kingdoms will fall.” Memories were flashing through his mind and he barely remembered that there were people listening to him. “The Plague, the undead, the Lich King- I- I couldn’t stop them… The- the Legion returns…” His voice had quieted down and he was staring at the ground without seeing anything.

“Please, your grace!” the sorceress woman said, placing her hand on Arthas leg, making him jump and wince a little. The woman moved her hand away. “What happened?! Are we in war?!” People all around them were whispering quickly to each other, everyone looking at Arthas, fear in their eyes.

Arthas climbed down from the back of the horse and his legs nearly gave up under him. His muscles were shaking and he realized just how exhausted he was. That however, wasn’t going to stop him. He stumbled forward and one of the mages gathered around him caught a hold of his shoulders to steady him.

Arthas took a grip of the sorcerer’s arm and met his eyes. “The end is coming! Everyone in this city will die!” Images of Archimonde destroying the city flashed before his eyes, the screams of the people echoing in his mind. “The war like never before!”

That was more than enough to cause panic.

It was like someone had kicked an anthill. The merchants and other onlookers started running around afraid, shouting warnings and repeating Arthas’s words to the ones who had been too far to hear the prince. Two of the mages that had gathered around Arthas ran away and one teleported.

The sorceress, who had spoken earlier, stepped closer to Arthas. “Is it true what you say?” she asked, her voice tense and urgent. “Are we at war?”

Arthas eyes were screwed shut and he was holding the side of his head as horrible images bombarded his mind. “So many died. The war spares no one.”

The sorcerers left shared scared looks. The one that was still giving Arthas support, shook him lightly. “What happened in the Capital City? Are you coming from there?” he asked.

“I- I had to get away. I couldn’t stay a minute longer,” he said, shaking his head, eyes still tightly shut.

People around them were running in growing panic. Some people were teleporting away, some had got on horseback and were now riding through the mass. People wanted to get to their families to make sure that they were safe and to protect them. The chaos was quickly spreading to the inner parts of the city towards Violet Citadel and its gardens.

“We need to get the word to the Kirin Tor that something bad has happened,” the sorceress said. The mage who wasn’t giving support to Arthas nodded and teleported away.

“Jaina Proudmoore? Is she here?” Arthas asked. He had opened his eyes and was clutching his chest and head, breathing uneasily. Despite being engulfed in the nightmarish memories, the urge to see Jaina was clear. “I need to see her.” He pushed the sorcerer further from him and started walking with agonizingly slow and unsteady steps, still holding the side of his head.

“I’m sorry, your grace, but you need to come with us,” the sorceress said, taking a hold of Arthas’s arm and starting to lead him towards the inner city and its high towers.

“No. I need to see Jaina Proudmoore,” Arthas said and pulled his arm free. Even if he was exhausted, he was still physically stronger than probably any of the mages in the city.

“I’m sorry, prince, but this is incredibly important. We need to be prepared!”

“But I need to see Jaina!” Arthas said. He didn’t want to talk to the Kirin Tor. He didn’t know what the hell he’d say. He just wanted to see Jaina and  _ maybe _ that’d help him to deal with the situation he was in.

“Prince Arthas!” the sorceress said. She was clearly doing her best to not get angry at the prince. “I must insist you follow me. You can talk with Lady Proudmoore later.”

“But I- I shouldn’t be here any longer than necessary,” Arthas said. “I just wanted to see Jaina.”

“Sire, I understand that you’re in distress and not thinking straight, but please, trust me. Right now we need to go talk to the Kirin Tor,” the sorceress said.

Arthas was swinging his head from side to side, looking around. Jaina was most likely in the libraries or gardens in the inner city, but he never knew, maybe she had been shopping in the marketplace. “I have to see that Jaina is alright.”

“The faster we go, the faster you can see her!” the sorceress said. She had to speak loudly to be heard over the panicking people. “Besides, chances are that she is somewhere close to where we’re going!”

That seemed to get through to Arthas. He stared at the woman for a moment thoughtfully. “Alright,” he said then. “I think you’re right.” He’d most likely find Jaina from the libraries or she might even come to meet the Kirin Tor when she heard that Arthas was there.

The sorceress nodded, looking visibly relieved. “Good. Follow me.”

\---

Jaina was walking leisurely in the Violet Gardens of Dalaran. She was hugging a book against her chest and listening how Kael’thas, who was walking by her side, was talking about a tome that he had just read. Both of them were wearing rather simple but beautiful violet and golden robes, the ones that the mages of Dalaran usually wore. It was a pretty day and Jaina had been studying in the gardens when Kael had asked if she wanted to walk with him for a bit. He had been spending the entire morning reading in one of the libraries and had wanted to stretch his legs and discuss the things he had been reading lately.

Jaina was listening closely, interested in the theory about polymorphy. It wasn’t a branch of magic that she was familiar with - and she was fairly sure that she didn’t have close to any talent for it. However, she loved studying, gaining knowledge and just reading thick tomes of the theory of magic. On a second thought, it didn’t have to be magic, also history, geography, biology… practically anything was interesting to her to study.

She loved studying.

“It’s fascinating how some people just have natural talent for polymorphy,” Kael said, walking gracefully as ever. His voice was smooth, but it betrayed his passion towards magic. It was easy to get him to talk excitedly about anything related to magic and Jaina enjoyed his company since she shared his interest. "I mean it's not really something that I'd spend years studying, but I admit that at times it might come handy," Kael continued.

"You know people you'd like to turn into sheep?" Jaina asked a little teasingly. She followed with her eyes how a bird flew past them and started singing beautifully. The gardens, just as the rest of the city, were bright and clean. Jaina loved spending time there, reading under the verdant trees. In the gardens there were a lot of pretty flowers, apple trees and fountains here and there.

Kael smiled, amused. "I don't know. But it'd be nice to have the option to do it. However, it wouldn't have to be a sheep necessarily. Think about turning someone into a bird or a cat. They'd be great at spying on people."

"You're right, but what about when the effect would wear off?" Jaina asked.

Kael grinned a little. “And that’s exactly why it isn’t always so convenient.” There was a pause, then he continued: “Have you ever wondered why the trend is to turn everyone into sheep? I mean, why sheep?”

Jaina chuckled a little. “Actually, I’ve never thought of that.”

“Maybe we should think of it,” Kael said, his lips curved into a smile.

“I guess it’s just a trend?” Jaina said, shrugging.

“Probably,” Kael agreed, then he sighed. “Transfigurations in general would be so nice to master. It’d make life so easy.”

“Is your life particularly hard then, your grace?” Jaina asked, teasingly.

Kael turned to give her a slightly lopsided smile. “It could always be easier.”

Jaina chuckled again. “You’re right. I must agree-”

She let her sentence go unfinished when suddenly half a dozen people appeared around a corner ahead of them. They were running, most of them coming to their way. Kael’thas and Jaina instantly shared looks, both of them sensing that something was wrong.

As three of the people, all of them wearing the robes of the students, got closer to them, Kael was faster to ask the questions:

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?” the elven prince asked.

The students slowed their steps, but didn’t stop. “We’ll be attacked!” “The third war has started!!” “We need to go!!” they shouted.

Eyes widened, Kael and Jaina turned to look at each other. Suddenly both of their hearts were racing. It hasn’t been that long since the last war and both of them remembered it well. It wasn’t very likely, but maybe this time even they’d have to take part in it.

“We need to go see what’s going on,” Jaina said seriously.

Kael nodded and the two of them started running to where the people had come from.

A while later they reached the border of the large marketplace that spread around the main gates of the city. When they had neared it, they had come across more and more panicking people which had only increased their distress. The marketplace was in chaos. People were running around and shouting at each other in panic. Some merchants were gathering their stuff in a hurry, some had left nearly everything behind.

“I can’t see the enemy in here yet,” Kael said, seriously, his eyes darting from place to place.

“Why aren’t we prepared better?” Jaina wondered out loud. “Someone should be there to calm the people and keep the order.”

“We need to find out what has really happened,” Kael said, his eyebrows knit together. “If anyone knows that, it’s the Kirin Tor.”

Jaina agreed and they zigzagged between people to a different street, one that would lead them to the Violet Citadel the fastest. Surrounded by the panicking people, it didn’t matter that they were a prince and archmage’s apprentice, nobody cared. Nobody had time to care or even notice their presence as everyone was thinking of their own survival. In that chaos it was easy to imagine an orc or a troll jumping around the corner and attacking them at any moment.

“I really hope everyone is safe,” Jaina said and Kael nodded. She thought of the people she knew, especially her brother and father. Would this be like the first war all over again that they’d suddenly just hear that an entire kingdom had fallen without anyone realizing what had been happening?

They had run only a short while when they turned around a corner and Jaina gasped, eyes widening, freezing.

Only a dozen of meters ahead of them, Jaina saw a person who she was able to recognize even by the glimpse that she got. Beautiful, golden hair was framing the now shaken-looking, pale face. He looked so different compared to every other time she had seen him, but still there was no way she could be wrong. It was Arthas.

"Jaina?" Kael asked, turning to face the girl. "Why did you stop? We need to-"

"Arthas!!" Jaina shouted and dashed into a run again.

Arthas was startled by the shout and he turned around on his heels immediately. Jaina was shocked to see how bad the prince looked. His skin was pale and the circles under his eyes were dark. It was like he hadn't slept or eaten. His hair was tangled and clothes were untidy. It was also surprising that he wasn’t wearing his armor, but a blue tunic.

The moment that Arthas’s gaze fell upon her, he froze for a short second, then his face twisted in pain. He gripped his head, eyes screwed shut and teeth clenched, and a short, pained scream left his mouth.

Jaina’s eyes widened even more with surprise, concern filling her. She slowed her steps without realizing it.

As quickly as Arthas’s scream had started, it turned into pitiful sobs and he lunged forward, wrapping his arms around Jaina. He grabbed a hold of her clothes and pressed his head against her shoulder as he shook with abruptive sobs.

“Y-you’re alright, th-thank the Light,” Arthas sobbed. “J-Jaina… I- I missed you so much! I- I needed you to be by my side, but you left. Y-you were wise to a-and I’m sorry if I was angry at you...”

“Uhh, Arthas…?” Jaina said in confusion.

Arthas ended the embrace, met her eyes quickly, then pulled his hands back to hug himself. He averted his gaze quickly, hanging his head down. “I- I’m so sorry… Y-you were right all along, it- it was a trap! It was always a trap… I- I’m so sorry, I’m so s-sorry…” He kept on apologizing, his voice getting quieter. He hugged himself tightly, lost in his painful memories, his tears dropping to the ground.

“Prince Arthas, please we need to go,” the sorceress, who had been standing a step behind Arthas, said and laid her hand on the prince’s shoulder. That made Arthas jump and shook the hand away.

“What happened, Lina?” Jaina asked, looking from Arthas to the sorceress.

“This is prince Arthas?” Kael asked in disbelief, staring at the sobbing prince.

Arthas lifted his head up with a jolt as he heard the voice that he recognized hearing ages ago, yet it was still so familiar. His eyes met Kael’s bewildered stare and without thinking, he had wrapped his arms around him too.

“Kael’thas!” Arthas yelled his name as he pulled him into a hug.

Kael was frozen to the spot, his expression saying: “ _ What just happened?!!” _

This time Arthas broke the hug quickly. He looked at Kael in the eyes, biting his lip to partially stop the sobs. “I- I’m so sorry, Kael. I’m so sorry for what happened to your home, to your people… I- I didn’t want that. I’m so sorry…” Tears were streaming from his eyes as pain was wrenching his heart. He had killed them all.

If possible, Kael’s eyes widened even more. “What? Did something happen??” he asked. “Could someone explain to me what’s going on?!” Kael asked, his eyes moving from Jaina to Lina. He was really uncomfortable and confused.

“I- I wish you’d have been strong enough to st-strike me down… I’m so sorry, I- I wasn’t myself… I-I-” Arthas sobbed.

“What?”

“I managed to calm him down some, but now we’re back at the square one,” Lina said, looking at Arthas's breakdown unhappily. “He was very stubborn on wanting to see you, Miss Proudmoore.”

“What happened?” Kael asked. “Are we in war? Did someone attack?”

“I’m not quite sure,” the sorceress answered. “The prince hasn’t given straight answers.”

“Arthas,” Jaina said his name, taking a step closer. Arthas turned to look at her, but lowered his tear-stained face immediately. Jaina frowned in concern. “Arthas, what happened? What are you doing here?”

“I- I had to get away! I couldn’t stay there… Ja-Jaina, it’s horrible!” His sobbing got more hysteric again. “Th-the undead… I- I didn’t want a-any of it!! N-no one can e-ever forgive the things I- I’ve done. I- I was wrong… S-so horribly wrong!”

“What did you do?” Jaina asked, her throat dry as she dreaded the answer. It had to be something big if it had made Arthas act like this.

“Everything!” Arthas cried, burying his face into his hands.

Kael walked next to Jaina. “I have no idea what’s going on. Is he always like this?” He was eyeing Arthas warily.

“No. I’ve never seen him like this,” Jaina answered without moving his gaze away from the human prince. Arthas was sobbing quietly to himself, mumbling something. He was far from the confident, bold prince that Jaina had last seen only a couple of months ago. “We need to get him to calm down or we might never get any answers out of him.”

“I agree,” Lina said. “I was on my way to lead him to the Kirin Tor. They need to be informed about what’s happening and Prince Arthas is currently our sole source of information.”

“We should take him there,” Kael said.

Jaina nodded and took a hold of Arthas’s arm. Instantly the prince jerked his arm out from her reach and said pathetically: “Y-you shouldn’t touch me…”

“We don’t have time to waste,” Kael said through his teeth, tensely. “If we’re really in war, we must get him to talk. We need to know what happened.”

“He’s shaken too badly,” Jaina said. “But you’re right. We need to go to the Violet Citadel. Arthas?” she said, trying to get the prince to look at her, but Arthas didn’t react.

“This is going nowhere. If something happened in Quel’Thalas, I-” Kael started, but stopped mid-sentence when a horse galloped towards them.

“What in the Light’s name is happening here?!” a voice boomed over the panicked bustling of the street.

“Master Antonidas!” Kael and Jaina said simultaneously as the leader of the Kirin Tor stopped his horse right in front of them. The sorceress bowed deeply. Antonidas gained the attention of everyone nearby. It calmed some of the passers by a little, the sight of the legendary mage reassuring them, but some didn’t even slow on their way to wherever they were going.

“Sir!” Lina started, straightening her back. “Prince Arthas arrived to the city a while ago, talking about the third war.”

“So I heard,” Antonidas said, his gaze on Arthas’s back, who hadn’t even realized that Antonidas had arrived. “Our scouts are already on the move to figure out what has happened to start this panic, but I need to talk to you, your grace.” There was a pause as he looked at Arthas, who didn’t react - the prince of Lordaeron was still sobbing and mumbling to himself. “Your grace?” Antonidas asked a little louder. He turned to look at Jaina, looking for an explanation for Arthas unusual behaviour.

“He’s really upset. Not really present,” Jaina answered.

Antonidas frowned. “Prince Arthas,” he said louder and clearer.

Now Arthas jolted, his head snapping towards Antonidas. His tear-filled eyes were wide as dinner plates. His whole body started shaking stronger than before and his breathing got faster and shallower. “No…” he said, his eyes glued to Antonidas, but the look in them was distant. “No, no, no, no…” he said with growing urgency and shook his head. He was hyperventilating and getting more hysteric.

“Calm down, son. It’s al-”

“I-it’s not alright!!” Arthas shouted suddenly through his tears. “I-it’s unforgivable… I- I….” He screwed his eyes shut and grimaced in pain. He started taking steps backwards. “I- I shouldn’t be here… I-it was wrong of me to come… I- I’m so sorry,” he whispered tearily.

Just as he was turning around about to run away from the city, Antonidas muttered a spell. Arthas’s body relaxed and he fell unnaturally softly to the ground.

Jaina and Lina ran to the prince that was now unconscious. Jaina frowned in worry for her friend and turned to look at her master. “Which spell did you use?” she asked. She fully trusted in her master’s judgement, but she wanted to know.

“He’s asleep now,” Antonidas answered. “We wouldn’t have gotten any answers out of him in that state and I think this is important for his own safety as well. We don’t know what he might have done without thinking.”

“I think that’s for the best,” Jaina said, looking at her friend’s sleeping, tear-stained face. He didn’t look as peaceful as he should have. “Let’s hope that he has calmed down when he wakes up.”

“We must hope that that’s the case,” Antonidas said and with a movement of his hand he had made Arthas’s body to float in the air.

Kael nodded. He was still staring at Arthas in confusion as he walked to Jaina’s side. “We don’t know each other other than by name,” he said quietly, but clearly puzzled. “Why did he talk to me like that? Do you think something happened in Quel’Thalas? Why did he keep apologizing?”

Jaina shook her head. “I really don’t know. I didn’t understand anything he said.”

“This is so weird,” Kael said. “I thought he was completely different.”

“He is,” Jaina said, her mind working at record speed as she tried to process everything that had happened. “He’s not like this. I don’t know what happened to him.”

The two of them stepped into Antonidas’s teleportation circle that was glowing blue light where the archmage and the sorceress were already waiting with the sleeping prince. The next second all five of them had disappeared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!!
> 
> Real life has been crazy so I have no idea when I'll be able to update but please stay tuned.


	4. Chapter III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthas needs to give some sort of explanation for his behaviour.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!!
> 
> I'm really sorry that the characters are ooc. I have my headcanons of them and I know that those can be different from canon. Also remember that this happens long time before the events of warcraft 3 and everything that happens here changes the characters as they develop.
> 
> Also I want to remind you that this is warcraft universe and people can actually die for good. This is the final warning I'm gonna give you of that xD I'm not yet sure if I'm gonna kill anyone but I might.
> 
> Betaread by Rustfeather.
> 
> Enjoy!

“ _ Vile betrayer! You’re not fit enough to even carry your father’s name! Why Uther ever vouched for you is beyond me. You’ve stripped him of his honor by casting yours to the winds! You deserve a gruesome death, boy!” _

_ “Your father ruled this land for seventy years, and you’ve ground it to dust in a matter of days.” _

_ “No one tells me what to do. I’ve got everything I need from you—now the power is mine and mine alone. Now there is only I. I am the Lich King. And I am ready.” _

Arthas woke up screaming, sitting up instantly. The awful memories had crept into his dreams and warped them into horrid nightmares. The horrors of what he had done, of what he had become, didn’t stop haunting him even in dream.

“Arthas!”

Breathing heavily in fear, Arthas turned to look at Jaina who was just standing up from a chair next to the bed where he was sitting. She looked really worried as she was looking at him with her beautiful, blue eyes. Next to her was Kael’thas, sitting on another chair, staring at Arthas with confused surprise, his eyes wide.

“It’s okay. You’re safe,” Jaina said, calmingly.

Arthas was swinging his head from side to side, taking in his surroundings. He was in a simple room that had the bed, where he was sitting at, a writing desk, a wardrobe, a fireplace and the chairs that were occupied by Jaina and Kael. He remembered that he had arrived at Dalaran and he had wanted to leave, but then… What had happened?

“Am I still in Dalaran?” Arthas asked and tossed a light blanket away. Thankfully, he was fully dressed, sans his shoes.

“Yes. You-” Jaina was cut off.

“What happened?” Arthas asked, frantically.

“Please, don’t panic,” the girl said, trying to sound reassuring, but her worry was too evident for her to really succeed in it. “You were shaken so badly and we needed you to calm down to find out what had happened and to help you. Antonidas made you fall asleep with a spell and brought you here. He lifted the spell and left just now. You started waking up almost instantly.” She frowned. “We were hoping that maybe it’d be good if you slept a little.”

“It has been about half an hour,” Kael said.

Arthas bit his lip and stared at his lap. Somehow he was slightly calmer now. He was actually able to process information instead of being trapped in the memories and the hysterical fits that people and things that he faced triggered in him.

He buried his face into his hands. He still felt awful to be in Dalaran, in a city which destruction he held himself responsible for, but if he thought about it for a moment, it was maybe a good thing that he was there. He needed more information. He had to figure out what was going on. Had he really travelled back in time? If yes, then he needed to be sure that he knew what’d be happening next.

“I’ll go fetch master Antonidas back,” Kael said. “Will you be okay if I’m away for a couple of minutes?” he asked from Jaina.

Jaina nodded and gave a grateful smile to the elf. “Yes. Thank you.”

Arthas lowered his hands and stared blankly at his lap. So maybe,  _ maybe _ , he had somehow travelled back in time and now he was supposed to prevent the horrors of the plague from happening. He could remember the astral voice of the being of Light speaking to him when he had died.

“ _ You need to stop it from happening. It is time for you to redeem yourself.” _

He doubted he could ever redeem himself for the horrors he had done were too vast. But if he had a chance to fight against the plague and the undead, he’d do anything, anything at all, to stop them. If he really had travelled back in time and this was all real, then he’d stop the plague before it even started or die trying!

And this time he wouldn’t get astray.

“Arthas,” Jaina said softly. “What happened in Lordaeron?”

Arthas didn’t look at her. He bit his lip. He wasn’t sure what he’d say to everyone. The more he thought of it, the more he became sure that he couldn’t let people know what had happened in his different life. Maybe he should, but he was too scared to reveal the truth of what he had become. He deserved their hate and judgement, but how could he ever bring himself to tell them about his limitless number of sins or how he had despite all the warnings led himself to the path of darkness and destruction? It was incredibly selfish, but he couldn’t let people know, he just couldn’t!

His eyes were screwed shut and he was biting his lip so hard that it hurt.

“Arthas, please, look at me,” Jaina said and laid her hand on Arthas’s. The prince was startled and he pulled his hand away, but turned to look at the young sorceress. Jaina’s eyebrows were knit together in worry. “Please, talk to me,” she said.

Arthas moved his gaze away. An actually good reason why he shouldn’t reveal the life that he had lived was that he didn’t want to let Ner’zhul or the dreadlords know what he knew. They shouldn't be aware that he knew about their plans. Also he could work better against the undead if he was a prince and not a despised traitor. His chances of saving his kingdom were better if people didn’t know what had happened or what could happen.

“Jaina,” Arthas said and turned to look at her. He opened his mouth, but realized that he couldn’t find the words to say. He swallowed and looked away from her again. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

“Why would you need to be sorry?” Jaina asked, softly. She was frowning as she looked at Arthas, trying to understand what he meant.

Arthas closed his eyes and shook his head once, slowly.

Jaina opened her mouth, but before she had time to say anything, Kael returned into the room, Antonidas following right behind him.

“Prince Arthas, you’re awake,” Antonidas said. “Much sooner than I expected. How are you feeling?”

Arthas’s eyes were cast to the floor. “A little better,” he said with a quiet voice.

“That’s a relief,” Antonidas said and sat on the chair that had been previously occupied by Kael. Jaina took a step back, giving more space for her mentor. “Can you tell us now what happened?”

Arthas nodded slowly. “Y-yeah.” He couldn't tell them what had really happened, but he had to say something.

“So, are we in war, son?”

“No,” Arthas answered without looking anyone in the eyes.

Antonidas nodded. “Good. Could you tell us what was all that earlier about then?”

Still not looking anyone in the eyes, Arthas took in a deep breath before speaking: “I- I’m sorry for causing panic. I didn’t mean to do that, I- I-” He paused for a moment. “I had a vision.”

“A vision?” Antonidas asked and all three were listening closely to what the human prince had to say.

“It… It terrified me to my very core and I lost the sense of what was real and what not. I’m sorry,” Arthas said. He had to give some explanation for his behaviour and saying that he had had a vision was the most logical one beside the truth. On a second thought, that he had seen a vision was actually much more believable than the truth.

“No need to apologise, your grace. Although you did start quite a fuss,” Antonidas said and offered a smile. “So, is everything in order in Lordaeron?”

Arthas nodded. “Yes. Everything is as it should be.” “ _ For now,”  _ he added in his mind.

“That’s a relief,” Antonidas said, nodding. “Can you tell us about the vision you had?”

Memories flashed through Arthas’s mind, making him draw a sharp breath and screw his eyes shut. He could see his entire road to corruption and his horrible reign flash before his eyes within a couple of heart beats. He shivered, feeling sick again.

“Arthas?” Jaina asked in worry.

Arthas opened his eyes, but didn’t look at anyone. “I…” he trailed off.

“It’s okay,” Antonidas said, reassuringly. “What did you see?”

For a moment the prince didn’t say anything. He was considering his words carefully. “The third war will be many times more horrible than the previous ones,” he said gravely. “We’ll see devastation like never before. Kingdoms will fall.”

Heavy silence fell into the room. Kael and Jaina stared at Arthas, shocked, while Antonidas looked extremely serious. “Are you sure it was a vision? Not just a nightmare or something else?” the archmage asked.

“It was real!” Arthas nearly shouted. The three looked at him surprised, Jaina and Kael startled. Arthas took in a breath, trying to calm himself. “I mean, it wasn’t just a dream. I know it. Terrible things are waiting for us in the future,” he said and met Antonidas’s look, dead-serious.

Antonidas nodded. “Maybe it was a vision, but we can’t be entirely certain about that.” Arthas averted his eyes. Part of him wanted to yell at Antonidas and force him to take him seriously, but then he remembered that he was actually lying. It wasn’t just a mere vision, it was some sort of time travelling which was a much bigger deal. The information he now held was too much for him to even process properly. He had received years worth of information and the amount of knowledge that the Lich King gathered from the undead was beyond imagination. He had such an incredible number of memories suddenly, but he was certain that he had only used a tiny fraction of them.

“In any case,” Antonidas continued, “I need to hear everything about it.”

Arthas took a deep breath. His hands were shaking as he gripped his knees. He wasn't sure what he should say -  _ could _ say.

"I- I'm not sure what I saw…" he started.

"Is it the orcs?" Kael asked.

"No, no. Not the orcs," Arthas said. "Some… some of the orcs will fight alongside humans." He bit his cheek, knowing that it sounded weird to the others when he said 'humans', but he couldn't possibly say 'us'.

The others' eyes widened.

"Then who-" Kael was about to ask, but this time Arthas was quick to continue.

"The dead will rise to fight and slaughter the living," he said, the look in his eyes distant. "Kingdoms will fall before them and the fallen will be brought back to fight against their brethren as slaves to the-" He swallowed. "-to the Lich King's will."

"The dead?" Antonidas asked, eyebrows knit together. "Who is this Lich King?"

Arthas felt like his heart stopped momentarily, his eyes widening with fear. He averted his eyes quickly and hugged himself, shaking his head. “I- I…” He was opening his mouth, but didn’t have the words. He just couldn’t speak about it!

“Anything is helpful,” Antonidas said.

“I’m- I’m sorry,” Arthas said, his voice shaking. His breathing had gotten faster as his anxiety rose. “I- I can’t-”

“It’s okay. Stay calm,” the archmage said.

“What did you see?” Kael asked, tense. “Who is the Lich King?”

“He- he-” Arthas tried to take a good breath, but it turned out erratic. “He controls-  _ enslaves  _ the dead people a-and forces them to kill the living...” he said, his voice quieting down.

“Where does he come from?! What does he want? Could we make some sort of treaty with him?” Kael asked.

A lump had risen into Arthas’s throat. He tried to swallow it down, but it was persistent and effectively blocking a big part of his airflow. His breaths were quick, shallow and leaving him unsatisfied.

“Arthas, it’s okay,” Antonidas said.

Arthas shook his head. “I-it’s not. I’m-” “ _ I’m the Lich King!”  _ he thought, but bit his lip not to blurt out anything that he didn’t want to explain later. He shook his head from side to side. “I can’t tell you more about it. I’m sorry, I- I just can’t!”

“What do you mean, you can’t?” Kael asked. “This is important! We need to be able to protect our kingdoms!”

Arthas could feel his eyes starting to burn with rising tears. “I- I’m sorry,” he said pathetically and screwed his eyes shut.

“Kael, don’t pressure him,” Antonidas said and Kael, who had opened his mouth to say something, pressed his lips together into a thin line. The archmage looked at Arthas reassuringly. “I know that this is all very alarming to you and you’re in a shock. Still, I need to ask you a couple more questions, then I want you to rest and we can talk more tomorrow. Okay?”

Arthas made a tiny nod, his eyes still closed.

“Thank you,” Antonidas said. “So, first of all, we are safe now? No one is going to attack us right now?”

“W-we should be safe,” Arthas answered. “For now.”

“When would these things you’re talking about happen?”

“Not in some years.”

“That’s good,” Antonidas said and stood up. “Then we have a lot of time to prepare in case this vision turns out to become the future. Now, I need to go to talk to the people and calm down our citizens. You started up some very worrying rumors.”

Arthas swallowed, uneasily. “Sorry…” he said quietly.

Antonidas offered him a smile. Even if the archmage often looked intimidating and serious, he could also look friendly and reassuring. “Everything is fine now, so please, get some rest.”

Arthas didn’t answer anything.

“I need to go,” the archmage said. He shared meaningful looks with Jaina and Kael, then he left.

Jaina sat back down, moving the chair even closer to the bed where Arthas was still sitting. She was wearing a worried yet curious expression. “Arthas, are you okay?”

The prince rubbed his face with his palms, then glanced at Jaina. “No. I’m not okay! Everything we love will be lost!”

“You said it’ll be years,” Jaina said. “We’ll have a lot of time to prepare.”

“I’m not sure it’ll be enough.”

“If you know enough about the enemy, then it should be.”

Arthas shook his head. “You can’t understand! It’s much worse than you can imagine! I made- I- They’ll kill everyone and every kill is added to their ranks!”

“Prince Arthas,” Kael said firmly, his arms crossed and his white, elven eyes locked to the human prince. “What you’re claiming that will happen is painting a dire picture to us. I just as yourself am a prince and it is my duty to protect my kingdom. You can’t be holding back any important information.” He spoke suddenly formally, trying to get through to Arthas that way.

Arthas met his eyes, biting his cheek. He took a deep breath, pulling himself together the best he could. He had to sound confident to make Kael stop demanding for answers. “Kael’thas. I’m telling you everything I can,” he said, his voice surprisingly steady.

“I’m sorry, but I feel like you’re not telling us everything you know,” Kael said, his teeth clenched.

Arthas stood up, stepped right in front of Kael and looked at him in the eyes. His hands were still shaking, but he clenched them into fists in an attempt to hide that. “I understand your concern, fully. After all, I am in the same situation as you.” It was a relief to see that he could summon his court etiquette when needed. “However, you must understand that I  _ am _ the prince of Lordaeron and I’d do  _ anything _ to protect my kingdom and the ones we have the alliance with.” His heart was hammering against his ribs, but he had to keep his expression firm and unwavering. He couldn’t have people trying to pry his dark secrets. He’d tell them more about the Scourge when the time was right.

After a few seconds of staring, Kael averted his eyes. He nodded. “I want to take your word for that.”

Arthas nodded as well. “Good.” There was a short pause, then he continued: “You don’t know the horrors that I’ve seen. I’ll do anything to stop them from happening.”

“I know you will,” Jaina said, then offered a small smile. “But remember that you’re not alone.”

Arthas looked at her and frowned a little sadly, but didn’t say anything. He was more alone now than he had ever been in both of his lives. No one knew what had happened, no one could understand the pain that was wrenching his heart.

Jaina frowned. “What are you planning?” she asked, a bit wary.

Arthas blinked, his heart skipping a beat. He didn’t have any plans yet, but he knew that he'd form them as soon as possible. His goal was clear; he had to stop the Scourge, prevent the Plague from ever happening and kill the Lich King for good. Still, Jaina had seen that he was thinking of something.

He wanted to deny that he was planning anything, but he knew that he wouldn’t be convincing. "I don't know yet," he said instead.

Jaina and Kael studied him with their looks. "You need to tell us before you do anything," Kael said.

"Yes. You don't need to bear the weight of this alone," Jaina said.

Arthas sighed, hanging his head. "Let's not talk about this now, okay?"

Jaina stayed quiet for a short moment, then answered: "Okay. But you have to promise us that you won't do anything without telling us first."

"I…" Arthas started. He couldn’t possibly promise that.

"Promise," Kael said, firmly, narrowing his eyes for a fraction. 

Arthas sighed. "Fine. I promise that I'll let you know." He could tell them something, but not nearly everything.

Kael nodded. "Thank you."

"Good," Jaina said, smiling. "You look really tired, so maybe we should do as master Antonidas said and let you rest. When have you last eaten? Are you hungry?"

Arthas listened to his body for a moment and realized just how hungry he was. "I haven't eaten since last dinner and actually I'm starving."

“Last evening?!” Jaina asked loudly, then realized that she had spoken louder than she had meant to. Calmer, she said: “We’ll get you something to eat. Or do you want to come with us?”

Arthas shook his head once. “I’d rather stay alone for a moment.”

“You don’t want either one of us to stay here with you?” Jaina offered.

“No. Sorry.”

Jaina smiled at him. “That’s okay. We’ll ask someone to bring you food and we’ll come talk more with you later.”

Arthas nodded. “Alright. Thanks.”

“No problem,” Jaina said, then she frowned slightly. “Will you be okay?”

“As okay as I can be.”

“Okay. Well, we’ll go then,” she said and walked to the door, opening it.

Kael hadn’t moved yet. He was still studying Arthas’s face with his piercing look. Then without saying a word he walked out of the room, his eyes lingering on Arthas until he was gone.

Jaina offered one more smile to Arthas. “Take care,” she said and closed the door after herself.

Arthas exhaled as he was left alone. He rubbed his temple, took a step and collapsed onto his bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for reading. Comments are very welcome ^^
> 
> Real life has been really busy but I'm doing my best not to have too long breaks between chapters.
> 
> For now it'll be a lot of discussing in the chapters but things will start to develop, I promise.
> 
> See you!


	5. Chapter IV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthas, Jaina and Kael talk more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!
> 
> Betaread by Rustfeather.

A gentle breeze caressed Arthas’s skin and hair, yet it couldn’t calm his mind. His heart was still filled with fear, sorrow, self-hatred and shock and they didn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. He tried to take a deep breath of fresh air, but it didn’t make him feel any better.

It was already evening and Arthas was walking in the great gardens of Dalaran. Everything looked so peaceful which was a huge contrast to how he was feeling. The garden was just as flawlessly beautiful as ever. It was quiet there - Arthas hadn’t seen a soul, only the birds were singing. However, in the distance he could hear turmoil. He was feeling slightly bad that he had caused so much fear, but at the same time he had much more serious things on his mind and he just didn’t have the energy to think about that too at the moment.

He knew that no matter how horrible and unstable he was feeling, he had to pull himself together the best he could and begin his mission. There was so much that he had to do or it might all be lost again. Every moment that he wasted in Dalaran meant less time for him to stop the Plague.

Jaina and Kael had sent someone to bring him food and even if his stomach had been turning with disgust towards himself, he had been so hungry that he had eaten everything. After that Arthas had laid down, the exhaustion of his body hitting him. He wished that he had been able to sleep, but the memories hadn’t given him that opportunity. He hadn’t slept at all last night, but apparently the shock was still strong enough to keep him awake. He had been tossing and turning in his bed, but there was no way to escape his mind. He doubted that even sleep could give him peace, neither death. If he died now, the chances were that he’d be raised up as an undead later. Besides, if he died now, it’d be him abandoning this world and everyone living in it, dooming them to the Scourge.

Even if he knew that he deserved death and a part of him was wanting to escape all of this through suicide, he knew that it wasn’t an option. He owed it to everyone to fight against the undead to the bitter end again. This time, however, he’d change the chain of events.

Arthas sighed, fidgeting with his fingers uneasily. After laying on the bed for a couple of hours, he had finally given up and gotten back up. For a while he had been walking circles in the room that he was staying in, but soon he had gone outside, hoping to find some peace from the gardens.

Like that had worked.

Arthas was feeling just as distressed, but at least he had more space to walk now. It didn’t feel like he was going to suffocate in his room anymore.

The Plague… The Cult of the Damned… Ner’zhul… Why was it so hard to try to figure out the order everything had happened in? Sure, everything in his mind was still in chaos and he hoped that later on his memories would be processed better. Right now his mind was doing its best, and struggling, to process a huge amount of information and it left him having trouble trying to focus on anything other than the huge shock of what he and his kingdom had become - would become?

However, he had somewhat figured out what he should start with. It’d still take years before the Plague would be noticed, meaning that it wouldn’t be necessarily the first thing he should focus on. What he wanted to do first was to ensure that the Lich King wouldn’t get his champion. Frostmourne couldn’t be found. He wished he could just go to Northrend and destroy the cursed sword, but it wasn’t that easy. He needed much bigger preparations before he dared to go there. The Lich King was already ruling the continent. That meant that he should start with something that he was able to do at the moment.

“Arthas!”

The shout made said man jump and turn around to the direction of the voice. Arthas’s heart had sped up immediately, but as he saw that it was only Jaina running to him, Kael following her, he let his muscles relax.

“We were worried when you weren’t in your room,” Jaina said and stopped as she reached the human prince. Her eyes were scanning Arthas’s features as she tried to determine his state of mind. “I wished you would’ve told someone where you went.”

“I didn’t realize that you’d worry,” Arthas said, a bit surprised. He honestly hadn’t even thought of that. “Sorry. I just wanted to get some fresh air.”

“Does it help?” Kael asked. One could tell that he was paying close attention to everything Arthas did, studying him with a slight frown on his face.

Arthas looked to the ground. “Not really.”

“Did you get any sleep?” Jaina asked, a bit worried.

Arthas shook his head.

“Did you eat?”

“Yeah,” the human prince answered. “But I couldn’t fall asleep.” The questions reminded him of his exhaustion and he briefly wondered how he hadn’t just collapsed yet.

“We have potions to help you with that if you want to,” Kael offered.

Arthas met his eyes quickly and thought of it for a moment. It was very tempting. Deep, dreamless sleep would offer him a moment to escape the memories of the dreadful future, but he didn’t think it was a wise decision. He should be alert and ready to get up at any moment in case something happened. Good night’s sleep was a luxury that he couldn’t afford.

“That’s tempting, but I don’t think I should,” he answered.

“Why not?” Kael asked.

“Uhh… I don’t really know…” Arthas said, uneasily. He sighed, tiredly. “I… I don’t feel safe enough,” he admitted.

Kael frowned. “You do know that you’ll wake up just like normally? It’d just help you to sleep better,” he tried to explain.

“I know, but I think I want to sleep lighter.”

“Arthas, you’re safe here,” Jaina said, calmly. “Nothing will hurt you, so you can rest at ease.”

Arthas smiled unhappily. “I wished I could.”

“Couldn’t you let others deal with this?” Jaina asked. “Just explain everything you know to the Kirin Tor and let them decide what to do.”

“Exactly,” Kael agreed, emphatically.

Arthas shook his head. It was aching. “I can’t do that. Not now.”

“Why not?” Jaina asked.

“I just can’t!” Arthas said. “I have my reasons.”

“Why aren’t you telling us what you know?” Kael asked, starting to get more impatient.

“I’m telling you everything I can. I promise. I wouldn’t keep things from you without a good reason.”

“I think it's a pretty good reason to tell us if our kingdoms are going to fall,” Kael said, sharply.

“Just let it go!!” Arthas said louder than he had meant to. He took a deep breath, rubbed his face with his hands, and continued, calmer: “For now. Please.”

Kael averted his eyes, but didn’t say anything.

“We only want to help you, Arthas,” Jaina said calmly. “You do understand that, right?”

“I want to help my people,” Kael said. “Otherwise I don’t care.” Jaina gave him a look, her eyes narrowed, which made Kael look away, slightly ashamed. “I mean, I don’t want anything bad for your kingdoms either.”

Arthas sighed. His head was aching. “I know that you have good reasons to be worried. If I were in your place, I’d be asking questions myself.”

“See? Since you understand us, shouldn’t you tell us what you know?” Kael tried to persuade him to answer.

“If you were in my place, you wouldn’t tell either. Or at least you’d understand why I’m not telling you more right now,” Arthas answered.

Kael bit his lip, clearly annoyed. Before he had a chance to say anything, Jaina spoke up:

“Oh! We actually had something to tell you,” she said. Arthas turned to look at her, waiting for her to continue. “Master Antonidas asked us to tell you that he contacted Lordaeron City, telling them that you are here. You were so distressed that we weren’t sure if they knew where you were.”

All color escaped from Arthas’s face. “I didn’t tell anyone that I left. I didn’t know where I was going...” he said, quietly. Kael’s and Jaina’s frowns deepened. “Did Antonidas say anything else?”

“People are really worried about you,” Jaina said. “But they were relieved to hear that you’re here and uninjured. Lord Uther left for Dalaran immediately.”

Arthas’s eyes widened and the other two took notice of that. His look travelled from place to place uneasily. “I… I wished he wouldn’t come,” he said.

“Why?” Jaina asked, frowning.

“Because he’s really important to me and I couldn’t give him an explanation that he’d think of sufficient.” It was true, but it was only one half of why he didn’t want to face him. Images of Uther’s final moments flashed before his eyes and he screwed them shut, grimazing. It felt like the knife in his heart was being twisted.

“Arthas?” Kael said. “Are you feeling alright?” he asked, a bit unsure.

Arthas took a deep breath and opened his eyes, meeting Kael’s gaze. “I’ve been better.” His voice was quiet and nearly shaky.

“Should you go back inside?”

“It wouldn’t help.”

“Is there anything we can do?” Jaina asked.

Arthas shook his head once. “I just need time to deal with all this.” Although, he doubted that time would make him feel any better, but he could at least get a grip and start fixing everything that was going to go wrong.

He lifted his head enough to meet Jaina’s eyes. “Actually, could I ask a few questions?”

“Of course!” Jaina answered, her eyes widening slightly. She didn’t know what to expect, but she was happy to help.

“Can we ask questions from you in return?” Kael asked, his observant eyes locked on Arthas.

Arthas frowned a little apologetically as he met Kael’s eyes. “I don’t think I could answer any of your questions.”

“I’ll ask some anyway,” the elf decided.

“What do you want to ask?” Jaina asked from Arthas. Her tone was kind and encouraging, not pressuring him to speak.

Arthas pressed his lips together and stayed quiet for a moment. He felt awkward and uneasy, but he had to check this. “Umm… This will sound weird, but I need to check something because of… seeing the future kind of left me in a disarray, as you’ve probably seen.” Jaina smiled at him and Kael nodded. He swallowed. “Jaina, are you eighteen years old?” he asked, feeling how his cheeks started to feel warmer.

Jaina’s eyes widened in surprise. She certainly hadn’t expected that. “Uh, yes.” The smile returned on her face, but the confusion was visible in her eyes.

“So, I’m nineteen?” Arthas said and it came out more as a question than statement.

“Are you asking us how old you are?” Kael asked in confusion and slight disbelief.

Arthas bit his lip, his eyes averted. “I- I guess I am.”

Kael and Jaina exchanged a look from the corner of their eyes. “Yes, you’re nineteen years old,” Jaina said, a bit uncertain.

Arthas nodded, his cheeks turning more red. “I… I just had to check. Sorry for this. My ceremony to join the Order of the Silver Hand was a couple of months ago, right?”

Jaina nodded. “Yes. That’s right.”

“Sorry,” Arthas said again, looking at his feet. “This must be really weird to you.”

“Isn’t this weird to you?” Kael asked, a bit incredulously.

“Don’t worry about it,” Jaina said, offering Arthas a smile. “It is odd, but if you’re feeling unsure about these things, then of course you must ask us. The vision you had must have been really powerful to have such a strong impact on you.”

Arthas didn’t say anything, but he closed his eyes for a second while his head was still hanging.

“My turn to ask,” Kael said, crossing his arms. “Since you won’t answer the questions that I want to ask the most, I’ll start with something easy. What happened in Lordaeron yesterday? I’m assuming that you had the vision then, but I want to know how it happened.”

Jaina turned to look at Arthas. “I’d like to know that as well if it’s okay.”

Arthas sighed, but nodded. “It’s okay,” he said, walked a few steps and sat down on the edge of a fountain made of violet and white stone. He was so exhausted, his limbs feeling like they were made of lead. “I was eating dinner with everyone when I suddenly started to feel unwell. I excused myself and tried to get to my room, but I passed out on the way. Uther found me and carried me back to my room. Then I woke up and I had seen it all. The vision hit me and I was at a similar state than I was when I met you earlier today. I… I just couldn’t stay there, so I just took a horse and left without a heading.”

Jaina and Kael looked at Arthas quietly for a moment. “Why couldn’t you stay in Lordaeron?” Kael asked then.

It took a while from Arthas to answer. “I needed some time alone - truly alone.”

“But why did you come to Dalaran? Why did you ask to see Jaina?”

“Apparently my time alone didn’t help much,” Arthas said, then sighed. “I… I got really bad flashbacks of the vision when I arrived in the city and again when I saw you two.”

“Do you know why?” Jaina asked, frowning.

“Because I had seen horrible things happen.”

“To us?” Kael asked, suddenly looking a bit hesitant. “What happens to us?”

Arthas eyes widened and he screamed at himself inside his head because of how stupid he had been, letting them figure out that he knew something about them. His hands fisted and teeth clenched, he met Kael’s gaze.

“Nothing will happen to you,” he said, his voice steady and sure for once. “I promise you, I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe.” He moved his gaze to Jaina. “I won’t let anything happen to you. Either one of you.”

“That’s noble of you, but I doubt that a teenage boy can do much,” Kael said. “I’m much stronger than you. But that’s beside the point. You avoided answering what happens to us in the vision you saw.”

Arthas met his eyes, this time without shying away. “Our kingdoms will get into a war. I think that’s enough happening to all of us.”

“It’ll be years away, right?” Jaina asked.

Arthas nodded. “Yes.”

“And you want to change things, so that the war doesn’t have to happen?”

“Yes.”

“And if things started to look really bad and the war would start, you’d tell us everything important that you know?” she pressed on.

“Of course,” Arthas said. “But I really hope that it doesn’t come to that. I’ll do everything I can to prevent it.”

“Don’t you realize that it’d be easier to prevent it if you told more people of what we should do?” Kael asked.

“I know that, but… I’m doing what I think is the best for everyone,” Arthas answered.

“Even so-” Kael started, but was cut off by the other prince.

“Listen. I can’t let some people know what I know,” Arthas said, his look firm. “If I let the enemy know early that I know some of their plans, they’d change them and my knowledge wouldn’t help us any longer. If I want to win against the enemy, I need to catch them off guard.”

Kael bit his lip and looked away. “That’s actually a good point,” he muttered.

“Have you decided your next course of action?” Jaina asked.

Arthas turned sideways and dipped the fingers of his left hand into the fountain’s water, drawing small circles. “Maybe,” he said after a while.

Jaina walked closer and sat down next to him. “Please, tell us. We’re anxious to help,” she said.

“She’s right,” Kael said, taking a step closer. “This concerns all of us and our people.”

Arthas met both of their eyes, then said: “I need to leave Dalaran as soon as possible. I have things to do elsewhere.”

“Where are you planning on going?” Kael asked.

Arthas bit his lip, hesitating. “Will you promise not to try stopping me?” he asked.

Jaina’s eyebrows rose a little. “That sounds like you’re about to do something reckless.”

The human prince frowned. “No, not yet. But I need to go and I don’t want anyone trying to stop me.”

“I won’t stop you unless it sounds too dangerous,” Jaina said.

Arthas turned to look at Kael.

The elven prince moved his weight to his other foot. He nodded. “What she said.”

Arthas nodded. “Okay. I need to go to Ironforge.”

“Ironforge? Why?” Kael asked, his frown deepening.

“I… I need to search something from their libraries. And talk to my mentor, Muradin,” Arthas answered.

Jaina and Kael exchanged looks. “Well, it doesn’t sound too bad,” Jaina said. “Just let us know when you’re going.”

“I told you that I’m leaving as soon as possible,” Arthas said. “I’m probably not going to sleep tonight either, so I could ride for a while before trying to get some rest.”

“What?!” Jaina asked. “You can’t leave before actually getting some sleep.”

“Or talking more with Antonidas,” Kael added.

“But I-”

“No buts,” Jaina said, firmly, then her voice softened. “Please. Stay at least for tonight.”

Arthas looked away. After a moment he sighed. “Fine.” It’d help him if he got even some sleep.

“Thank you,” Jaina said, offering him a small smile. “I also think that you should stay long enough to see Uther.”

“I really wished that I wouldn’t need to see him,” Arthas said.

“But I think you must,” Jaina said. “He’s on his way here and he must be worried. If you won’t see him, he’ll most likely follow after you wherever you’d be going.” Arthas turned his head and met Jaina’s eyes, listening. “You need to convince him that you know what you’re doing and show him that you’ll be fine.”

“I didn’t think of that,” Arthas admitted, still looking at the girl. “I guess you’re right.”

“So you’ll talk with him?” Jaina asked.

“I don’t think I have any other option,” Arthas answered. “But it’ll be hard.”

“Why?” Kael asked. He was studying Arthas’s face with intent eyes, his arms still crossed.

Arthas met Kael’s look. “Because it will be.” He wasn’t going to explain himself. His eyes widened a little as he thought of something. “Oh, and don’t tell him where I’m going, okay?”

“Because you don’t want him to follow you?” Kael asked.

“Yeah.”

“I won’t tell him, but if he asks, I don’t think I can lie to him,” Jaina said.

“I won’t,” Kael said. “Lie, I mean, if he asks. But I’ll only say something if someone asks a direct question.”

Arthas nodded. “I’m not asking you to lie, but I’d appreciate it if he wouldn’t follow after me.”

“Okay, we understand,” Jaina said.

“I don’t,” Kael said. Jaina gave him a look which made him avert his eyes and exhale before continuing: “But I’ll keep your secrets until you give me a reason not to.”

Arthas nodded. He couldn’t ask more than that and even then he’d fully understand if they didn’t trust him and his judgement.

There was a moment of silence when all of them were deep in their thoughts. Jaina was the first to broke it:   
  
“What else did you want to ask us?”

Arthas blinked. “Oh, right.” He swallowed and fidgeted with his fingers. “But, umm… Don’t tell anyone what I asked.”

Jaina and Kael only stared at him, waiting.

“Okay?” Arthas asked.

“If that’s the only way to get you to ask it, then okay,” Kael said.

Arthas offered him a little sad smile. Then his expression turned more serious and uneasy. “Do you… Do you know a person called Kel’Thuzad?” he asked.

The girl and the elf frowned in concern, recognizing the name immediately.

“Of course we know him,” Jaina said, studying Arthas’s eyes and speaking a bit cautiously. “He’s a very powerful mage, but…”

Kael bit his lip, tensely. “Not too long ago he left the Kirin Tor and Dalaran. No one knows where he went.”

Some color left Arthas’s face and he looked to the ground. “I thought he would have left already, but I was hoping that maybe, just maybe, he’d still be in here.”

Jaina’s frown deepened as she thought hard, her eyes locked on Arthas. She started speaking out loud quietly as she processed information she had: “He was one of the finest mages in the Kirin Tor, but he was interested in dark arts. He got into fights with Antonidas and the Kirin Tor when his necromantic experiments came to light and-” Jaina’s eyes widened and her voice got more intense as she spoke faster. “He was expelled, but that won’t make him stop using necromantic magic. He’ll continue studying it freely now without the Kirin Tor-! Arthas!” she said, forcing the prince to meet her wide eyes and intense look. “Will Kel’Thuzad be the one responsible for the undead invasion?!”

Kael’s eyes widened with realization. “Will he?!”

Dread was visible from Arthas’s face and his body was now shaking more than from exhaustion. His mouth opened, but no words came out. Should he deny it? Or tell that he played a huge part in it?

It took Arthas too long to form an answer. “He will!” Kael nearly exclaimed, drawing the conclusion from the other’s silence. “Jaina, you’re so smart!”

Jaina ignored the comment, looking at Arthas, trying to meet his eyes. “Arthas, say something. Are we right?”

“N-not quite,” Arthas answered hesitantly. “Not him alone. He’s serving someone else.”

“Who is he serving?” Jaina asked.

Memories of the Lich King flowed into Arthas’s mind. He had been his biggest enemy, then his master and finally he had become him. His headache got worse and he felt like something was pressing his lungs, preventing him from getting fully satisfying breaths.

“The Lich King,” Arthas whispered and cold shivers went down his spine. He screwed his eyes shut, hissing as he was reliving the moment he had first time stood in front of the Lich King. It had been way too late for him to turn back anymore, but he couldn’t help but wish that he had decided to kill Ner’zhul there and then instead. If he had only been strong enough to destroy the Lich King then...

The weight of a friendly hand on his shoulder brought Arthas back to the present. He opened his eyes and saw Jaina looking at him in concern.

“You okay?” she asked.

He didn’t answer the question. “Please, keep everything that we’ve talked here a secret from everyone else,” he said, meeting both of their eyes nearly pleadingly.

“But if we told others-” Jaina tried.

“Please!” Arthas said and grimaced. His head was hurting so much.

Jaina sighed and looked at Kael who shrugged. “Well, the Kirin Tor is looking for Kel’Thuzad anyways, so I guess it wouldn’t make much difference,” she said.

Kael looked away without saying anything.

“Thank you,” Arthas said quietly, meaning it.

“Tell us more about the Lich King,” the elven prince said, not giving Arthas a break.

Arthas looked at the ground and shook his head. “I can’t,” he said. From his face it was clear that he was feeling unwell.

“Because you don’t want to or because you don’t know more?” Kael pressed on.

“I won’t say more. Period.” Arthas said, shaking his head faster. He stood up, holding his head. “I- I think I should go back to my room. I’m not feeling well.”

Jaina stood up as well. “Of course.”

They started walking back inside, Arthas leading them as he hurried to escape from the questioning. Kael and Jaina followed him a few steps behind, talking quietly to each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!! Please, let me know what you're thinking.
> 
> Sorry that things are progressing slowly, but we'll eventually get to the action.


	6. Chapter V

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthas and Kael have a little chat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Betaread by Rustfeather. Enjoy!!

Arthas was sitting on a chair next to the window of the room that had been given to him for his visit in Dalaran. The sky was dark, but the city was lit up with magical lights, shedding soft light to the streets. The citizens were still restless even if Antonidas had told them that there was no reason to worry. Arthas didn’t know exactly what he had said or how the archmage had explained his earlier behaviour, though. He wouldn’t mind if Antonidas had told people that he was crazy.

Arthas honestly thought that maybe he was a little mad. He had a good reason for it. Besides, he spent over half of his time in his memories and he kept having intrusive flashbacks. Maybe that counted as being crazy already?

The prince had wrapped a blanket around himself. He had taken a bath a while earlier that had helped him a bit. At least it had made him feel physically better when he had been able to wash away the sweat from the journey even if it hadn’t calmed his nerves. Now he was feeling a bit chilly, so the blanket was welcome.

The more he had thought of it, the more sure he was that going to Ironforge next was the best course of action. He had to make sure that the Lich King wouldn’t get his champion. He was probably the only person in the world who knew how powerful Frostmourne was and what powers it gave to its wielder. He also knew the ultimate sacrifice that the wielder had to make for that power.

He couldn’t let anyone find the sword and lose their soul to it. He had done unspeakably horrible things and he had no doubt that if someone else wielded Frostmourne, they would too.

From his different life he knew that Muradin and his explorers would go look for ancient artifacts. He wasn’t sure when they’d leave or if it was still years ahead, but he had to make sure that they wouldn’t find Frostmourne. If they had any records of it, he’d burn them all.

Arthas sighed and lifted his feet on the chair and hugged his knees. The day had been awful and he was dead-tired. How was it even possible for things to turn this bad? First he had become the Lich King and now he had to deal with the knowledge of everything that had happened. It was just too much to bear.

If he could just escape it all...

He couldn’t help but wonder if the mages could make him forget everything. He wished that he could just be blissfully oblivious again. But of course it wasn’t an option that he was free to choose. His life was dedicated to preventing the same horrors from happening again. That was the purpose that the being of Light had given him.

That had been real, right? He had really met a celestial being after he had died?

His thoughts really were like something a crazy person would say.

Arthas wasn’t sure how much longer he had sat there, lost in his thoughts, when there was a soft knocking on the door. He changed his position to sit properly, lowering his feet to the ground and straightening his back. He threw the blanket on the bed and said: “Come in.”

A heartbeat later the door was opened carefully and Kael’thas peeked inside. When he saw Arthas sitting on the chair, he relaxed a little and opened the door wider. “You’re awake,” he said as he stepped into the room and closed the door after himself.

“Yes…” Arthas said. His voice betrayed how tired he was. “I have a lot of things on my mind.”

“Clearly,” Kael said as he walked closer to the human prince. He took a chair for himself and sat down a few meters from Arthas. Then he just stared at him.

Arthas shifted uncomfortably under the elf’s intense stare. He wanted to break the awkward silence, but he couldn’t think of a thing to say.

“Jaina asked me to come see that you were alright,” Kael said after a moment. “She thought that it wouldn’t be proper for her to come here this late.”

Arthas blinked his eyes. “Ah, of course.”

“But that’s okay since I was wanting to talk with you alone,” Kael continued and Arthas swallowed nervously. “I think you should tell me everything.”

Arthas averted his eyes. “I told you that I can’t.”

“Do you understand how selfish that is? You can’t hold all the information to yourself, this is extremely important.” Kael’s voice rose a little.

“I understand,” Arthas said, meeting the other’s eyes. ”It is selfish, but I do it because I think it’s the right thing to do.”

Kael narrowed his eyes. “Do you think we can’t handle the future you saw?”

“I think no one should know the horrors that I saw,” Arthas said. “I’ll make sure that they won’t happen, so no one needs to know.”

“And what if that future becomes the reality?”

“Then I’ll tell you everything that I know that could be helpful.”

Kael looked away, huffing. “Why are you so stubborn?”

“So are you,” Arthas answered tiredly. He was shivering slightly from cold or exhaustion, maybe both.

Kael clenched his teeth as he looked at the other prince again. “Alright, let me put it this way. What if you die? What if you die now or a year from now and you still haven’t told us anything?” the elf asked. “What would we do then?”

Arthas felt an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach. If he died, things would most likely go much the same way than in his other life. The plague would happen, the Lich King would rise and the Easter Kingdoms would suffer the most.

Arthas shivered. “I…” he started.

“You haven’t thought of that,” Kael said and sighed.

Arthas didn’t say anything as he stared at the floor.

“So, what should we do then?”

“I... “ Arthas sighed. “I don’t know…” he muttered.

“Give me even something,” Kael said.

Arthas let out a frustrated sigh. “I wish I could, but I’m worried that our enemies would find out what I know and they’d change their plans. Then no one would know what would happen or know how to prepare,” he said.

“Arthas,” Kael said demandingly, his white eyes staring at him intensely.

“I’m sorry. Can we talk about this some other time?”

The look in Kael’s eyes sharpened as he tensed. “Don’t think that I’ve forgotten what you said! What happens to my kingdom?! What happens to my people?!” he asked, growing agitated.

Arthas’s eyes widened. What had he said?! He had no idea what he had blurted out during one of his crying fits. His memories of them were somewhat hazy. How much had he said?! “What?” he asked.

“Don’t play dumb with me,” Kael said, his teeth clenched. “I remember your words clearly.”

“Yeah, but I… I don’t,” Arthas sighed.

“What do you mean?” Kael asked, frowning.

Arthas looked to the ground awkwardly. “I don’t really remember what I said. I… The memories - the memories of the vision - are so overwhelming that it's all blurry…“

“So you don’t know what you said,” Kael summed up.

“I don’t…”

The elf huffed. “You’re not really giving a convincing picture of yourself. And we’re supposed to trust our fates to you?”

Arthas met his eyes. “I know, but I’m the only one who can do this. I will change the future.” He had been repeating those sentences in his mind countless times.

Kael stared at him intensely, staying quiet for a moment. “You’re serious about all of this, right? You believe everything you say?” he asked, but it was almost a statement.

Arthas frowned a little. “Of course. I know that it’s all true. That the vision was real.”

Kael pressed his lips together. “What happens to my kingdom?” he asked firmly.

Arthas looked at him in the eyes quietly for a moment. “In my vision Quel’Thalas fell in front of the undead army. It was largely destroyed.”

Kael’s hands were fisted. “My people?”

“Killed. Turned into the undead.”

“What happens to me?” Kael asked.

Arthas shook his head. “I’m not saying.”

“Tell me. I have the right to know,” Kael said.

“I won’t,” Arthas said firmly. “I won’t tell any individuals what I saw happening to them.”

“Tell me!”

“No! What I saw happening to you or Jaina or anyone doesn’t matter because it won’t happen!” Arthas nearly shouted. He took a deep breath and he was shaking. He missed his blanket. “When I start changing things, the future should change drastically.”

“What if it doesn’t? What if you’d be leading us to the future of your vision?” Kael asked.

Arthas paled. “Don’t say that,” he said quietly. The idea terrified him. Suddenly words from what felt like ages ago were echoing clearly in his mind:

“ _ Just remember, the harder you strive to slay your enemies, the faster you'll deliver your people right into their hands.” _

Arthas screwed his eyes shut and shook his head to get the Prophet’s voice out of his head.

Kael was studying Arthas’s expression with his piercing look. “What is it?”

Arthas shivered as he shook his head more. “I couldn’t handle it if I were responsible for something terrible happening.”

“Then share the responsibility. Let us help you,” Kael said.

“Kael, please,” Arthas said. “We’ve gone over this already. I can’t involve many people into this so early.”

“Why shouldn’t I tell everything I’ve heard from you to the members of the Kirin Tor?” the elf asked.

“Did you already forget about Kel’Thuzad?” Arthas asked, meeting his gaze. “There can be others like him. Or he might still have connections here and the necromancers could get a warning that we’re onto them. People betray each other easily if they can gain something from it. Or someone might say something and the piece of information accidentally ends up to a cultist or someone else. The point is that there are too high risks to let people know what I know.”

Kael stayed quiet for a moment. “Fine. I understand. We can’t tell who might betray us.”

Arthas nodded a little sadly. He and Kael both had fallen to the darkside when trying to save their people.

“Do you trust us?” Kael asked suddenly.

Arthas blinked. “What?”

"Do you trust me and Jaina? Antonidas?" he asked.

They looked at each other in the eyes for a moment. Arthas wetted his lips, then nodded. "I trust you." He wasn't sure if he should have trusted Kael, but he knew that he wanted what was best for everyone. Somehow Arthas could now see how similar he and Kael were in many ways. Both of them had wanted to protect their people which had led them to their dooms.

Kael nodded. "Good. Because you can. We want to save our home just as much as you.”

“I know,” Arthas said quietly. His eyelids felt really heavy.

A moment passed and neither one was looking at the other. It was again Kael who spoke up first: “I just- My people will be slaughtered?” He looked genuinely upset.

“I’m sorry,” Arthas said. “We’ll do everything we can to prevent that from happening.”

“But how…? Our elf gates are so highly enchanted that they should be impassable,” the elven prince said.

Arthas looked at him with a sympathetic frown. “You were betrayed. Someone told how to break the enchantments.”

Kael’s eyes widened, then narrowed. “Who?” he asked, dangerously quiet. “Who dared to betray us?”

“People make desperate decisions in desperate times,” Arthas said, studying Kael with his eyes. “You can’t blame anyone because I saw something in a vision. They haven’t done anything wrong and it’s unlikely that they will,” he reasoned.

Kael let the tension slowly leave his muscles and he nodded. After a moment he asked: “Is there anything I can do to protect my people?” He sounded a little lost or helpless.

His tone touched Arthas. He could understand his concern easily. He felt sorry for him and tried to think of something to say that might make him feel better.

“Your land started healing in time,” Arthas said. Kael met his eyes, listening closely. “Finally things started to look better.”

“Did you really see that?” the elf asked.

Arthas nodded. “I did.” It had taken years, but then the things had started to look brighter for the remaining high - or blood - elves.

Kael nodded. Their eyes were locked for a few seconds more, then Arthas averted his gaze.

There was a short moment of silence as Kael studied Arthas who stared blankly to the floor. The elven prince sighed and stood up. Arthas blinked and turned to look at him.

“You should go to sleep,” Kael said. “Are you cold?”

“What?”

“You’re shivering.”

“Ah, umm, yeah. It’s a bit chilly,” Arthas said.

Kael turned to look at the fireplace and Arthas could see the look in his eyes intensify for a second, then there was a fire burning in there.

Kael’s lip curved up in a tiny smile and he turned to look at Arthas. “There. It’ll burn from two to four hours.”

“Thank you,” Arthas said, staring at the fire. He felt a lump rise into his throat. What magic could he still use? Would he still be able to wield the Light? He wasn’t worthy of it in any way, but he still knew how it would be done in practise. But he knew his place and it wasn’t as a wielder of the Holy Light.

Just like he knew how to use Light, he knew how to use necromantic magic. Did he have the power and ability to use that form of magic now? Arthas shivered. He would never even try to use it.

“Are you really planning on leaving tomorrow?” Kael asked, bringing the other back to the present.

“Yes. I hope so.”

“You need to tell me before you go,” Kael said.

Arthas stayed quiet for a few seconds. “Alright.”

Kael nodded approvingly. “Good. Go to sleep.” He walked to the door. Before he opened it, however, he stopped and turned to look at the other again. “Arthas?” he said.

“Yes?”

“Don’t even think of leaving during the night,” the elf said seriously.

Arthas sighed, tiredly, and made a small nod. “I won’t.”

Kael nodded and opened the door. “Good night,” he said and left the room, closing the door after him.

Arthas sighed deeply which turned into a yawn. He turned to look into the fire that was burning warmly. He had never been friends with Kael, but he felt that if the circumstances had been different, they could have become friends. Maybe. At least he now wished that they could be in this life. Kael’thas was very powerful and he might still need his help for defeating the Lich King. He only wished that Kael wouldn’t hate him again - although, he wouldn’t blame him if he did.

He moved his gaze to his hands, turning up his palms and staring them. Thinking of him using any magic made him anxious. He wasn’t worthy of Light, not when he had abandoned it. But necromantic magic was something he could have never believed he could have used and yet, it had become his tool of bringing misery and destruction. It made him feel sick.

Part of Arthas wanted to try wielding the Light again, just to see if he could. Maybe, just maybe, he could somehow restore his relationship to it. However, a much bigger part of him was scared of the thought of wielding the Light. It made him feel really anxious and sad, filled with regret.

He closed his palms. He couldn’t try it because he was too scared of the outcome. It was terrifying to think that maybe he was completely disconnected from the Light because of everything he had done in his other life.

But was he disconnected from the undead? He didn’t want to think about it.

Time passed as Arthas stared into the bright flames of the fireplace. He felt his eyelids drooping close and after nodding off a few times, he stood up and collapsed onto his bed, crawling under the covers. He fell asleep almost instantly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments are more than welcome!


	7. Chapter VI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uther is worried about Arthas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Betaread by Rustfeather.

Arthas woke up with a jolt as he heard soft knocking on his door. He sat up, gasping, and swung his head from side to side, scanning his surroundings with a fearful look.

“ _ I’m in Dalaran, _ ” he thought, relaxing slightly as he remembered yesterday's events, but his heart was still beating fast. Sunlight was streaming into the room through the window and he knew that it was morning, quite late actually. He had slept long, but he still felt exhausted. He had been having unsettling dreams during the entire night.

There was another set of knocks on the door, equally as soft, yet they were enough to make Arthas jump a little. “Come in,” he said, uneasily, staring at the door, his heart hammering in his chest.

The door opened and Uther in his full armor stepped into the room. He was wearing a deep, worried frown that softened as he saw Arthas and he offered him a small smile. "Arthas, son, how are you?" he asked as he walked to him.

Arthas felt his throat hitching shut and his muscles tensing at the sight of his mentor. His eyes were wide as dinner plates.

" _ What is he doing here?! Why did he have to come?! What can I say?! What does he already know?!"  _ Arthas panicked in his mind.

"U-Uther?" he said, stuttering a bit.

“Yes, it's me," the man said, calmly. "I came as soon as I heard where you had fled to,” he continued and sat down on Arthas’s bed. Arthas inched reflexively a little further from him, his eyes locked to the older paladins' as they looked at each other.

“Why did you leave like that, Arthas? I don’t understand what happened,” Uther said parentaly.

Arthas blinked. "I- I… I had to get away," he said, lowering his gaze to the ground.

"Why?"

"I…" he hesitated. "I had a vision."

"What did you see, son?" Uther asked, still calmly.

Arthas met Uther's eyes and bit his lip. "The future," he whispered. "One possibility for it."

The older man frowned. "What happened in it?"

Arthas couldn't help averting his eyes. "Th-the third war…" he whispered.

“Go on.”

“Lordareon fell…”

“Why did it happen?” Uther asked.

“ _ Because of me.”  _ “We couldn’t recognize the enemy before it was too late,” Arthas said, then turned to meet the other’s eyes, his own look giving away his pain and fear.

Uther looked at him sympathetically. “I’m very glad to see that you’ve calmed down since you left home,” he said. “Please, Arthas, tell me everything.”

A frown appeared on Arthas’s face and he shook his head. “I-I’m sorry… I can’t talk about it.”

“This is me, Arthas,” Uther said and tried to lay his hand on the boy’s shoulder, but when Arthas flinced so visibly away from him, he pulled his hand back. “I have always been there for you and I always will be. It is my will and my duty to help you, so let me.”

Arthas only bit his lip and shook his head once.

“Son?” Uther said patiently, trying to meet Arthas’s eyes. When the silence had stretched long enough, the older paladin broke it: “If the undead will become our problem, you need to tell us everything you know about them.”

Arthas was startled and he turned to look at Uther, eyes wide. “Y-you know…?”

Uther smiled at him reassuringly. “I arrived hours ago and already talked with Antonidas. I wanted to see you as soon as I arrived, but it was best to let you sleep.” He studied Arthas’s features with his gaze. “Sorry that I woke you. You would have needed much more sleep.”

“No,” Arthas said quietly, again shaking his head. “I was only having nightmares. Besides, it’s late enough already. I need to get up.” He pushed away the blanket that had been still covering his legs, and stood up.

“No, please, sit back down,” Uther said. “This talk isn’t over.”

Arthas closed his eyes and sighed, sitting down again, although on the edge of the bed, further from the other. “Uther, I… I appreciate your concern, but this is something that I need to figure out myself. The vision scared me badly and I needed time to think everything through alone. That’s why I left like that.”

“Antonidas told me how you acted when you arrived here,” Uther said. “This is about much more than you just wanting some time alone.”

Arthas met his eyes. “Yes. Yes, it is,” he said seriously. “That's what I'm telling you. I saw everything that I love suffering and dying.”

“That’s why I’m here. You can talk to me and I’ll help you.”

“No, Uther, listen,” Arthas said. "I'm…" He was trying to find the words. "I'm shocked by what I saw, but I'm feeling much better now. I'm okay. My head is clearer. But there are things I have to do and I hope that you trust me when I say that I know what I'm doing."

Uther looked at him, studying the look in his eyes. Arthas could see the worry and fondness in his. "Are you really all right?" he asked, a bit sceptically.

Somehow Arthas managed to force a tiny smile on his lips. "Yes. I am." He had a small pause. "You may not be able to understand why I'll do some things that I will in the near future, but I promise that I have a really good reason for everything," he said as convincingly as he could.

Uther smiled at the teenager. “Arthas. I want to trust you. I know that you’ll do what you think is for the best of your kingdom and your people. However, I worry that you’ll try to do too much alone. You have your entire kingdom supporting you if you only get your father to trust your judgement and believe in your plans. You don’t need to do this alone.”

“Uther, you don’t understand,” Arthas started. “I know that I’d get help if I asked. At least I hope so. I don’t know if people would believe in my vision. I’ll need help, but not yet. For now I need to act discreetly, without letting anyone know what I’m doing or what I know.”

“And what will you be doing?”

“First I need to go to Ironforge,” the prince said.

“Ironforge? Why?” Uther asked, raising his eyebrows.

“I need some information from the dwarves,” Arthas answered. That wasn’t a lie, but very vague.

Uther frowned. “Will you see Muradin?”

“I hope so.”

The older paladin nodded. “He’d make sure that you won’t do anything stupid.”

Arthas didn’t say anything, but gave Uther a small, agreeing smile, even if he knew that he wouldn’t let anyone keep him from doing what he thought needed to be done.

“Alright, here’s what we’re going to do,” Uther said. “You’re going to return to Lordaeron with me and you’ll ask your father if you can go to Ironforge. You need some men to travel with you to ensure your safety.”

“But-” Arthas started, but he was cut off immediately.

“I’m not discussing this,” Uther said a bit firmer. “Your parents are truly worried about you and so am I. You need your father’s permission to go.”

“But I can take care of myself if I run into trouble. I’m not a boy anymore,” Arthas said.

“But you are, Arthas,” Uther said. “Even if you became a paladin, your training has just started. There’s still much you need to learn.”

Arthas had averted his eyes. He knew so much more than Uther could ever imagine. However, now that they were touching the topic, he had to tell Uther that things had changed. The paladin wasn’t going to take it well.

Sighing, Arthas started: “Uther… I… I can’t be a paladin anymore,” he said.

Uther just smiled. “Of course you can. You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

Arthas frowned. “I’m serious,” he said, straightening his back. “I can’t! I’m- I’m not suited for being one. I just can’t.” He met the other’s eyes firmly.

Now Uther frowned. “Why? What has changed? There’s no reason why you couldn’t be one.”

Arthas cast his eyes down, shaking his head sadly. “I’m not worthy… I can’t wield the Light.”

Uther smiled sympathetically and inched closer. “Son… none of us are worthy. But Light accepts us anyways. It’s all about believing in the Light and striving to become a better person. We fight against evil, for justice and for the weak. In front of the Light we can be ourselves because it sees our souls, our virtues and our flaws, and it accepts us.”

Arthas shook his head. “Sometimes it’s not enough. There are things and people that the Light can’t accept,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry…”

“Is this about the vision?”

Arthas glanced at Uther, then nodded.

“What did you see?”

“It made me understand some things,” Arthas said. “I can’t tell you about it, but I’m not worthy of serving the Light.”

“Of course you are. Arthas, I-”

“I’m not!!” Arthas suddenly practically yelled, turning to look at Uther. Fresh tears had gathered into his eyes. “I- I can’t!” His teeth were clenched together.

There was a moment of silence as Uther stared at the younger man, then he sighed. “I wished you could talk to me. Doubts in faith are normal and thinking that you’re not worthy only proves that you’re even worthier. Once we get back home, we’ll focus on meditation and discussions.”

“Uther. I’m serious about quitting the training,” Arthas said quietly.

“You can take some time off, but I’m sure that you’ll find your peace with this. You’ll become a great paladin, I have no doubt,” Uther said.

Arthas didn’t say anything. He knew that it was never going to happen and Uther would have to accept it eventually.

Uther sighed, then placed his hand on Arthas’s shoulder. The teenager flinched, but didn’t shake the hand away. He was staring at Uther with wide, wary eyes.

“Take the blessing of the Holy Light,” the older paladin said. “Light, please-”

“No!!” Arthas shouted, jumping to his feet and backing against the wall, staring at Uther’s hand like it was on fire. It was glowing almost unnoticeably. He was suddenly breathing heavily, panic making his heart race. Images of the Holy Light scorching the undead flashed before his eyes, filling his mind. He had felt its agonizing burn himself many times. Uther was right. Right now he was just a boy while Uther was a seasoned paladin, probably capable of killing him when only trying to bless him. “Do-don’t touch me, please!”

Uther was staring at him, bewildered. “Arthas, what is wrong? Please, tell me."

Arthas was shaking, pressed against the wall. His chest was rising and falling in fast pace and his eyes were glued to the hand that had touched his shoulder. The look in his teary eyes was terrified.

"Arthas? Arthas!" Uther said louder, taking a step forward.

Arthas was snapped out of his thoughts and he met Uther's eyes.

"What's wrong?" Uther asked again, surprisingly softly.

Arthas was swallowing down his tears. "The- the Light- I shouldn't be blessed with it…"

"It's okay," Uther said, reassuringly. "Why are you afraid?" He took another slow step. He was frowning now almost sadly, unable to understand what could have possibly made Arthas fear the Light like that.

"I- I-" Arthas stuttered. He screwed his eyes shut and clenched his teeth, grimacing.

"Arthas," Uther said quietly, now right in front of him. Arthas flinched and opened his eyes, leaning heavier against the wall.

"What did you see, son?" Uther asked, studying his eyes.

Arthas lowered his gaze to the floor. He didn't say anything as he shook his head.

Uther looked at him with a worried frown. "Please, let me bless you. It'll make you feel better, I promise. You know that, right?"

Arthas met his eyes. The look in them was all the answer Uther needed.

"You think something bad will happen," he said. The look in his eyes was confused, concerned and a little sad.

Arthas looked up at Uther. There was no way he could explain anything to the older paladin. "I-I'm sorry…" he said since there was nothing else he could say.

Uther's frown deepened. "There's nothing to apologize for," he said, then lifted his hand slightly. "Please, Arthas. Let the Light ease your mind."

Trembling, Arthas looked at his mentor. Uther's faith was strong, unwavering. He could never understand Arthas's feelings. Just as much as Arthas was afraid that the Light would scorch him, he was terrified of Light having abandoned him. Even if he knew that he didn’t deserve being connected to the Light in any way, it’d still be mortifying to see that it really was the case. Once he had been serving the Light, trusted in it, and now again he wanted to feel close to it. Now Arthas had another chance and he saw that the Light was good and it was the right path to follow.

“ _ I deserve the Light’s judgement. I want to fix everything in this life, but if it’s the Light’s will for me to die, I accept it. I'd deserve it. I wanted to make things right, but if it's the Light's will that everyone sees my betrayal, so be it." _

Slowly and afraid, Arthas made a small nod."O-okay…" he whispered. His eyes travelled to Uther's hand that would soon no doubt start glowing.

Uther smiled at him reassuringly. "It's all going to be okay." His upheld hand started glowing again with the Light, this time the glow growing brighter.

Arthas stared at the hand with fearful eyes. His breathing had gotten faster and was now coming out as heavy, anxious and audible heaves.

"It's okay," Uther whispered as he placed his hand on Arthas's shoulder.

Arthas flinched and screwed his eyes shut, gasping, then holding his breath. For now he could only feel the unnatural warmth of the hand.

“Holy Light, lay your blessing on your humble servant, Arthas,” Uther started. Arthas’s breathing hitched as the hand got hotter. “Guide him in his faith and let him feel your love and present. Wash away his fear and confusion and fill his heart with serenity.”

A wave of warmth washed over Arthas, reaching every part of his body. It felt more amazing than he had remembered. The warmth was calming and comforting, easing his troubled mind and exhausted body. It touched his very soul, giving him strength and a feeling of peace.

The prince gasped as the sensation hit him. He hadn’t realized how much he had been yearning to feel the blessing touch of the Holy Light until now that he felt it. He had no words to describe his happy, sad, relieved and grateful feelings.

His back still against the wall, Arthas slid down to the floor, first sobs escaping his mouth. His knees were folded and pointing up. He hugged them and hid his face behind them as growing sobs shook his body. Tears were already streaming down his face.

The Light hadn’t abandoned him! He had been given another chance, one that he didn’t deserve, but he had it! He was just so grateful.

Arthas was sobbing miserably on the ground when Uther kneeled down in front of him. “Oh, Arthas…” he sighed, feeling bad for the other.

“I-I felt it,” Arthas sobbed, his face still buried behind his arms and knees. “Th-the Light still blessed me… I-I was so afraid...”

“Of course it blessed you,” Uther said softly and laid his comforting hand on Arthas’s back. “The Light would never leave you.”

Arthas’s crying only got louder. “ _ But it did!!” _ he screamed in his mind. “ _ It did, because I turned my back on it first! But now it’s with me again!” _

“Everything is going to be fine,” Uther continued. “Whatever it is that you saw in your vision we can get through together. The Light is on our side.”

Arthas only continued crying. He doubted that the Light really was on his side, but at least it wasn’t against him. He lifted his teary face to look at Uther. “Th-thank you… I-I’m sorry…” he sobbed.

Uther smiled at him caringly, sat down next to him and pulled him into a comforting hug. “I’ll always be there for you. I hope you feel a little better.”

Arthas let himself lean against Uther’s strong frame. Even if the calming wave of the warmth had left him almost as fast as it had come, he still felt better. His mind wasn’t at ease, he still felt just as exhausted, but at least one thing had turned out fine. He nodded his head to answer Uther.

“Good. Just let me help you with the things related to the vision as well,” the older paladin said.

“I-I can’t,” Arthas said, his voice muffled against Uther’s clothes. “N-not yet. I-I was given the vision a-and I know what I have to do. I-I need to act alone for now. I-I received a warning that I could be betrayed.” Not exactly true, but he had been betrayed enough times that he knew that anyone could do that, even the closest of friends. He, for example, had killed his own father.

“But Arthas, you must know that I’d never-”

“I-I know, Uther,” Arthas said and pushed the other a little further, so that he could meet his eyes. “B-but I was given this mission by the Light a-and I have to do what is right.”

Uther’s eyes widened a little. “Are you sure it was the Light?” he asked.

Arthas nodded. “Yes.” There was no doubt in his voice or look.

Uther nodded as well. “I’m proud of you, son. You were chosen by the Light. But still you must know that I’ll be here to help you along every step of your journey.”

“Th-thank you,” Arthas hiccupped. “Then you’ll understand why I don’t want to return home now or have men escorting me.”

Uther’s frown returned. “No, nothing about that has changed. You’ll come to Lordaeron with me. I can’t let you go alone,” he said.

Arthas lowered his eyes to the floor. He’d go whether or not Uther would let him, but he didn’t need to know that.

“Don’t look that gloomy. You’ll be able to set on your journey before you know it,” Uther said, trying to encourage Arthas. He stood up. “I’ll go fetch something. Will you be okay if I’m gone for a minute?” he asked.

Arthas wiped away his tears. “Y-yeah.”

Uther offered him a smile. “I’ll be right back. And don’t try to leave while I’m gone. This room doesn’t have secret exits,” he said a little jokingly, but at the same time he was serious.

“I won’t,” Arthas promised.

Uther left the room and Arthas rubbed his eyes, then stood up himself. He walked to a small mirror and started tidying himself, even if he thought of giving up before even trying once he saw his red, puffy eyes. He washed his face with water, combed his hair with his fingers and changed back to his own tunic instead of the one that he had been borrowing.

After a couple of minutes, Uther was back already. He knocked once on Arthas’s door and didn’t wait for an answer before he stepped inside. On his arms he was carrying Arthas’s armor as well as his hammer.

Arthas stood up, alerted again. “Uther, no,” he said, looking uneasily at the armor and the weapon.

“You can’t go outside the city walls without your weapon or armor. You should know that,” Uther said as he placed the said items on Arthas’s bed.

“I’m not a paladin anymore,” the prince said.

Uther met his eyes. “Don’t make any hasty decisions. You can take your time thinking about it.”

Arthas bit his lip. He could never carry Light’s Vengeance again. It wouldn’t have been right. He was fundamentally different than he had been when he had been a paladin. Now he was tainted, corrupted, foul. He wasn’t worthy of wielding the Light, he was only trying to fix his grave mistakes.

"Now, do you want to come and have lunch with me and the others?" Uther asked.

Arthas turned to look at him, his eyes widening. "It's time for lunch already?"

"Quite early lunch, but yes," Uther answered. "Do you want to?"

Arthas lowered his gaze. "I think I'm going to rest a bit more. Could you send some breakfast for me though?" he asked.

Uther smiled at him. "Of course. But you should try to get things to return to normal as soon as possible. I'm sure that'd be good for you."

Arhas bit his lip. Nothing in his life would ever be the same.

"I think we should stay here until you've gotten some more rest, for tomorrow at least. Then we need to go to the Capital City. I'll send a word to the king that you're okay," Uther said and walked to the door. He turned to look at Arthas again. "We'll figure this out and everything will turn out fine. Okay?"

" _ You don't know that. You don't know how badly things can go wrong! But yes,  _ I'll _ figure this out,"  _ Arthas thought. Outloud he said a bit unsure: "Okay."

Uther smiled at him. “I’ll see you later.” Then he closed the door and the prince was alone again.

Some of the tension left Arthas’s body as the door was closed. He turned his gaze to the hammer that was on his bed. From experience he knew that it was a powerful weapon, but there were so many that were much more powerful. He was an expert using it, at least he had been in his other life, but still he couldn’t bring himself to wield it. It would have been wrong.

Uther wanted to take him back to Lordareon, but he had no intention of going - not yet. The older paladin must have been keeping an eye on him in case he tried to leave again. It was probably the best plan if Arthas left as soon as possible.

Even if the warmth of the Light was long gone, the new hope that it had given to the prince stayed. Arthas hugged himself and sat down on a chair. His eyes were screwed shut as he tried to keep tears at bay.

The Light hadn't abandoned him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you are enjoying the story. Comments are welcome ^^


	8. Chapter VII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leaving Dalaran.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I must say this again that I know that the characters here are ooc. I know that and I can't bring myself to change that. Especially Kael... I just have so much fun with the way I write it. Sorry not sorry. If you don't like the characters ooc, you don't have to read :)
> 
> Now, please enjoy!!
> 
> Betaread by Rustfeather.

“Arthas, where are you going?”

Startled, Arthas turned around and met Uther’s suspicious look.

“You’re wearing your armor, sans the shoulder plates.”

Arthas smiled at him. “I thought of what you said. I should try to return back to normal as soon as possible,” he said. “If possible, maybe we could leave after the dinner.” He had left his room a few minutes ago. Before that he had eaten and put on his armor. It wasn’t full armor, since he didn’t have the means to put it on by himself and it would be very heavy to travel with, instead it was only his breastplate and his gauntlets. On his belt he had a dagger. He had left the heavy, decorative lion head from the lower part of his armor behind because he didn’t want to gather any more attention than necessary. For a moment he had been contemplating on taking his libram with him, but had decided against it. He knew nearly everything that was written on it and he wouldn’t be wielding the Holy Light.

Arthas had asked a servant to take his bag to the stables and then he had written a short note that he had left next to the rest of his armor and Light’s Vengeance. The note said: “ _ I’m sorry. I’ll be okay. _ ” Uther would find it later.

“That’s good,” Uther said, some of his tension leaving. “If you feel good, then we can leave today. Your parents would be happy to see you as soon as possible. But where are you going now?” There was suspicion in his voice.

“I want to see Jaina before we leave,” the prince said, smiling a little. “She’s my friend and I want to apologize for my behaviour yesterday.” He swallowed and looked away to make himself look more awkward than he actually was feeling. “I’m sure you heard about it.”

Uther’s frown disappeared. “Oh, of course you want to see her. She’s a great girl, Jaina. On her way of becoming a powerful sorceress.” Uther smiled at him. “Go. Tell her to join us for dinner. I think she’s in the second floor’s library.

Arthas offered his mentor a small smile. “Thank you. See you later.” He turned his back on Uther and started heading to the library.

After a while the prince stepped into the huge library. He looked around, but couldn’t see anyone. It was quiet there and he was hesitating on breaking the silence.

“Jaina?” Arthas asked quietly, then a little louder: “Jaina?” He started walking further into the room, his footfalls echoing softly. “Jaina?”

Arthas could hear a sound of a chair being pushed back, then quick steps. From behind a bookshelf a dozen meters ahead of him appeared Kael’thas, surprised but alert. A second later Jaina was standing next to him.

“Prince Arthas,” Kael said. Before he had time to continue, Jaina was already walking to the human prince.

“Arthas! How are you?” Jaina asked, smiling friendly. “I hope you’re feeling better.”

Arthas couldn’t bring himself to return the smile. He could fake it to Uther since he had no other choice, but not to Jaina, not when it was pointless. The look on his face was serious.

“My thoughts are clearer than yesterday which is enough,” he answered. “I’m leaving now. I promised to tell you, so that’s what I’m doing. Don’t tell Uther and don’t try to stop me.”

Jaina’s expression turned more serious and Kael’s eyes widened.

“I’m coming with you,” the girl said without hesitation.

Now Arthas’s eyes widened in surprise. “Jaina, you can’t. I appreciate the offer but-”

“It wasn’t an offer, it was a statement,” the young sorceress said. “Don’t go  _ anywhere  _ while I’m gone and I mean  _ anywhere _ ! Stay right here!” she said firmly and the familiar bright blue light of the teleportation circle had already started to glow underneath her feet. “Stay!” She ordered one more time before teleporting away.

Arthas stared at the place where she had been just a blink of an eye earlier, his eyes even wider than before. He didn’t know how he would be able to make Jaina to listen.

“You can’t just leave.”

Arthas turned to look at Kael who had walked closer to him. He was frowning seriously, arms crossed.

“I have to,” Arthas answered.

“No. No you don’t,” Kael said. The look in his white elven eyes was firm. “Just tell us what needs to be done and we can do it for you. You’re just a boy.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Arthas said. “I’m going.”

“I’ll tell the Kirin Tor everything I know,” Kael half stated, half threatened. “It’s the right way of action.”

Arthas's stare was unwavering and serious. He had set his mind on this plan. "I can't stop you from doing that, but I'm asking you not to do it. I know that you understand my reasoning. There’s still years before the things that I saw in my vision would happen, so I’m asking you to at least give me some time.”

Kael stayed quiet for a moment, his lips pressed together. He let his hands drop to his sides, but his fists were clenched.

“Please, Kael,” Arthas nearly pleaded, his voice quieter. “I know we haven’t exactly been friends, but I hope that you’ll give me a chance.”

The look in Kael’s eyes got sharper. “What do you mean? We don’t know each other.”

Arthas’s eyes widened and some color left his face. He lowered his gaze awkwardly. “Oh, umm, you’re right. I just, uhh, I’m mixing the future that I saw with the present.”

“We were not friends in the future?” Kael asked.

Arthas bit his lip, thinking for an answer that he could give. “No,” he said simply in the end.

“Why?”

Arthas wetted his lips a bit, anxious. “Because of Jaina.” It was a big part of it. It was the reason for it before he had turned evil and mass murdered the high elves.

Kael frowned a bit harder, then his frowning ceased. “Oh,” he said and averted his eyes. “I see.”

Arthas offered him a tiny smile. “I hope that we can be friends now,” he said.

“That’ll depend about you,” the elf said. “I’ll judge you by your actions.”

“Thank you.”.

Blue light started glowing at the place where Jaina had left only a moment ago. Both of the men glanced at it, then turned their attention back to each other.

“I’ll come with you,” Kael stated.

Arthas stared at him surprised. He wouldn’t have thought that Kael would want to travel with him and join him on his mission to save the Easter Kingdoms. “What? You don’t need to do that. I’d rather go by myself.”

“I can’t let you and Jaina go alone,” Kael said. ”Someone has to look after you.”

At that moment Jaina appeared next to them. She was carrying two backpacks, a bag and she had her staff. “Okay, let’s go,” she said. Her tone was serious but somehow excited.

Arthas stared at her impressed. “You were fast.”

Jaina grinned at him. “I had everything packed and ready. I knew you’d try to leave suddenly.”

Arthas couldn’t help but smile a little. Jaina was smart. “Thank you,” he said, almost a little moved for the support of his friend.

“I’ll come with you as well,” Kael told Jaina.

Jaina smiled at him. “I knew you would,” she said. “Then go get your stuff quickly.”

“It’ll take a while,” Kael said, a frown appearing on his face. “I don’t know what I should pack to take with me.”

“Why weren’t you prepared for this?”

“I didn’t think this’d happen.”

“We don’t have much time,” Arthas reminded. “Uther is keeping a close eye on me.”

Jaina nodded, then turned to look back at Kael. “I’ll teleport you to your room, you’ll have five minutes to pack and then you’ll meet me and Arthas at-” She turned to look at the human prince.

“At the stables,” Arthas said.

Jaina nodded and turned to look back at Kael. With a wave of her staff the ground under Kael’s feet started glowing. “Five minutes.”

“That’s not enough, I-”

“Five minutes, then you make your way to the stables as fast as possible without raising suspicion. If it takes too long, we might need to leave without you.”

“Don’t you dare to leave without me!” Kael said firmly.

“Then be quick,” Jaina said and the spell teleported Kael, who had been still trying to complain about the too short time, away. She turned to meet Arthas’s bewildered look.

Jaina was so cool.

“Thank you,” Arthas said. He knew already that the girl would be a huge help. “Thank you for believing me.”

Jaina offered him a smile. “I do. Now, let’s go. We should have the horses ready before Kael gets there. I’m pretty sure that he won’t be done with the packing in five minutes,” she said, grinning playfully.

“Can’t you just go get him after that?” Arthas asked.

“I can only teleport one person at a time and the distance can’t be very long,” Jaina said. “But I’m getting better. Master Antonidas says that I have a talent for teleportation,” she smiled.

Arthas nodded. They were still teenagers. He shouldn’t forget that.

“Are you ready to go then?” the girl asked. “Don’t you take a bag with you?”

“It’s waiting for me at the stables,” Arthas answered. “Let’s go.”

Jaina nodded and they left the library.

\---

“Where’s Marigold?” Arthas asked as he scanned the heads of the horses with his look.

“Who?” a young stable boy asked.

“The horse that I arrived with.”

“She’s staying in a different stable, Your Highness, the one at the western side of the city,” a woman, in her thirties said, giving Arthas his bag.

Arthas took the bag. “Thank you.” He frowned. “That’s a shame. We don’t have time to go there. Make sure that someone takes her back to Lordaeron.” The woman nodded. Arthas took a glance at Jaina, then turned his look back at the woman. “We need three horses. We might need to change them along the way, so give us some who you can trust for strangers to bring back.”

The woman nodded again. “Of course.” She turned to leave, then looked back at Arthas. “Three?” she asked.

“Yes. Our friend is joining us soon.”

“Very good, My Lord.” She left with the stable boy to fetch the horses for saddling.

Jaina took a step closer to the prince, gaining his attention. “Do you think Uther will come after us?” she asked.

“Probably,” Arthas answered. “But I think it should help a little that I’m not going alone this time.”

“Well, you would have left alone,” Jaina pointed out a little teasingly. “But me and Kael are going to help you and look after you.”

Arthas looked Jaina in the eyes as he spoke: “I… I don’t think that you should come with me,” he said. He was about to continue, when the girl cut him off:

“I get that, but we can decide for ourselves what we do.”

“Wait. Let me finish,” Arthas said and Jaina closed her mouth. “I don’t know what’ll happen. Now I’m only going to Ironforge without looking for any troubles, but there’s always dangers along the way. You could get seriously hurt or even die if something bad happens.” He frowned sadly. “I don’t want to be responsible for that.” He swallowed. “I’m really grateful that you want to help me, but I think you shouldn’t.”

Jaina smiled reassuringly. “Arthas, if something happens, you should know that I won’t be holding you responsible. If whatever you said is going to happen does, I need to do what I can to avert it. I can’t let you do this alone.”

Arthas swallowed again, feeling how his eyes were watering. The stable boy arrived at the two of them, walking two horses with him. The prince blinked his eyes and took a look at the mounts. Both were in good shape. They looked young and powerful. One was dark brown, the other black.

Arthas nodded. “I’ll help you saddle them.”

They walked to the open space and started saddling the horses. Arthas was handling the black stallion while the stable boy started bridling the brown one. The earlier woman walked to them with another brown horse and started saddling it.

Arthas took a glance at Jaina who was standing next to him, then continued talking: “I really don’t know what might happen.” He spoke quietly. “I feel like horrible things follow me. If I try to fix something, it only gets worse. I’m afraid of what we’ll come across.”

Jaina smiled at him and took a step closer. “That’s why we’re coming with you. We can figure things out together.”

Arthas was adjusting the stirrups. He closed his eyes for a second and sighed. “If you’re sure about it, you can come with me this time.”

Jaina smiled. “We can worry about the other times later.” She looked to the door, frowning. “Where is he?”

Arthas couldn’t help but glance at the door himself. He was worried how awkward it’d be to travel with Kael. “He’ll come since he decided so.”

“I know that. It’s just the question of how late he’ll be.”

Arthas finished with his horse before the other two. He patted the stallion that turned his head and searched his hands for food. Arthas smiled and scratched him under the chin.

The woman that was working at the stables took a glance at the horse saddled by the stable boy, then turned to look at Arthas. “They are ready, Your Grace.”

Arthas nodded. “Then the only thing missing is-”

Fast yet light running steps neared them, then Kael’thas ran through the open door into the room. He had changed his clothes and was wearing rather simple grey pants and shirt and over them decorative red armor with golden highlights. He, just like Arthas, wasn’t wearing full armor, but breastplate, bracers and something to protect his upper thighs. He was also wearing a heavy robe, that was dark grey with a shade of purple. It was hanging heavily over his shoulders, leaving only the width of his chest uncovered. He was carrying three bags with him.

Kael was breathing faster than normal. Quickly, he met Arthas’s and Jaina’s eyes and said: “I’m ready.”

“You had time to change your clothes?” Jaina asked, her eyebrows raised.

“You didn’t change yours?” Kael asked back as he walked to them. “I don’t know if you should be wearing the Kirin Tor’s emblem. It’ll gain attention.”

“And your clothes won’t?” Jaina asked, crossing her arms.

“Hey! I left my shoulder plates behind.”

“Yeah, but-”

“Stop,” Arthas said, putting his bag into the saddle bag. “Right now it doesn’t matter, who’s wearing what. I’m going now whether or not you’re coming with me.” He started walking the black horse outside.

Jaina and Kael glanced at each other quickly, then followed Arthas’s example and started walking their horses.

Once outside, Arthas got on the horseback and turned to look at the other two who mounted as well. “Are you ready?” he asked, already eager to encourage his horse into a run.

“Yes,” Jaina said. Arthas could see how tense and nervous she was, but her eyes were shining with excitement.

“As ready as I can be with this little time to prepare,” Kael said, not quite happily, as he was adjusting his robe. He was wearing a frown on his face, looking a bit unsure.

“Good,” Arthas said, nodding. He kicked the horse lightly and he started trotting. He could hear the other two horses following him with their riders.

Arthas took a deep breath, feeling a tiny bit of his tension vanishing as he felt the horse’s strong muscles move under him, his steady steps carrying him forward. Arthas placed his other hand on the stallion’s withers, his warmth seeping into his fingers. He was grateful for the horse for taking him away from the city.

He turned to look over his shoulder at Kael and Jaina. “Are you sure that you want this?” he asked.

Jaina grinned at him. “You’re not getting rid of us.”

“I don’t really have a choice,” Kael answered. The frown hadn’t left his features.

“You can turn around whenever you want and I won’t hold it against you,” Arthas said.

“Hah, you wish!” Jaina said. Her excitement seemed to be growing.

Arthas couldn’t help his lips curve into a smile. Part of him really wished that, but the other part was happy that they were coming with him. Maybe he didn’t have to be as alone as he thought he was?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!! Take care all of you!


	9. Chapter VIII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Towards Ironforge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!
> 
> Good news! I've been on a nice writing flow and I think I can update more frequently for now. Maybe I'd try to update like every other week for now or something.
> 
> Betaread by Rustfeather.
> 
> Please, enjoy!

“Have you heard that ogres attacked Dalaran?”

“I heard it was a rampaging orc clan.”

“No. It was orcs, but it was the Capital City that took the hit.”

Arthas pulled his hood even further down as he walked through a village, carrying a bag of food that he had just bought. He was wearing a plain brown and simple cloak to save himself for unnecessary looks, although no one there most likely would recognize him. Even if he was wearing simple clothes, the blue color and his armor would show that he had at least some money. That'd make it easier for people to track him down and potentially make him a suitable target for thieves. Not that he was really worried about thieves, but he was trying to avoid trouble.

The towns and villages that they had passed were full of rumors that had gotten started from his arrival in Dalaran. The rumors had spread quickly and it seemed that the further they travelled, the more the story of what had happened had transformed. The rumors had gotten wilder and more inaccurate. If the circumstances were different, it might have been funny, but now it wasn't. Arthas couldn't help but feel a little bad for making all of these people worry, but there was nothing he could do about it. He didn't want to reveal who he was because then he’d be making it much easier for people to figure out where he was in case he was being followed by his father’s men.

"Is it true that Prince Arthas of Lordaeron has died?"

"Light bless that poor boy's soul."

"He wasn't even twenty, was he?"

Arthas's muscles were tense and his teeth clenched as he frowned deeply. The rumours had definitely gotten out of hands. He probably should do something about them, but at the same time he didn’t care that much. In the light of the things that he knew, what had happened in his alternative life, most of the things were insignificant. He needed to just focus on what he had to do.

After taking a few more steps, Arthas stopped. It still kind of bothered him. Maybe he shouldn’t just walk away without saying anything?

“ _ They don’t know you. There’s no way they’d recognize you,”  _ he convinced himself.

Taking a deep breath, the prince turned around and walked to the group of a few villagers who he had heard talking. They turned to look at him as he neared them and stopped to stand in front of them.

Arthas lifted his head up a little bit to meet everyone’s eyes, but he didn’t take off his hood. “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help overhearing what you were talking about,” he started.

“You have heard what’s happening, right?” an older woman asked. “We all need to be really careful. We don’t know when our village will be attacked.”

Arthas lifted his palm up a little for a calming gesture. “If you mean the supposed third war, those rumours are not true. I’m coming from Lordaeron and I can assure you that my information is correct. Prince Arthas is not dead.”

The villagers eyed him confused. “Then what has started all these rumours?”

Arthas swallowed. “The prince rode to Dalaran, raving about the third war and enemies. That’s true. He scared the citizens and started the rumours. But nothing bad or unusual is happening, don’t worry.”

“Then why did he say all that?”

“He had a vision that those things happened.”

“So, there’s a chance that it will happen?” a man asked.

Arthas clenched his fists. “We don’t know that. It’s good to stay cautious, but there’s no need for fear or panic,” he answered. “Now, please excuse me, but I need to go.” He turned to leave, when the same man asked:

“How do you know all this?”

The prince stopped and glanced at them over his shoulder. “I work in the castle for the king.” With that he continued walking.

Two days had passed since they had left from Dalaran. They had ridden nearly nonstop, only having short breaks in between to stretch their legs and eat something. They had only slept once although both Jaina and Kael had had short naps on their breaks. They had already changed horses once. Now they had stopped to rest a bit longer and actually sleep. They had chosen a campsite in a forest, close to the village, and Arthas had left Kael and Jaina to set the camp while he had gone to buy more food.

All of them were sore and tired from the constant riding, but Arthas didn’t allow them to have long breaks. They had to reach Ironforge as soon as possible. If Uther or his father’s men caught up to them, he wasn’t sure if he could get himself out of that situation and continue his journey. He didn’t know if he could convince anyone to let him continue to do what he wanted. And he couldn’t fight against his people to get his way. Never. Never again.

A part of him hoped that he never had to fight against anyone ever again, but if protecting innocent people meant using weapons against the undead, he’d do it.

Arthas had been very focused on his mission. His mind was set on the goal of saving the Easter Kingdoms. However, even if he made his every decision thinking of getting to the Ironforge as fast as possible, his thoughts were lost deep within his memories for the most of the time. The sheer amount of the memories was overwhelming. There was so much information he was trying to process, but he always got stuck in the same certain memories, the ones that were most horrible to him on a personal level.

Arthas sighed.

Travelling with Jaina and Kael had been tiring. Arthas appreciated that they wanted to help him, but they were not happy being left in the dark about so many things. It felt like they were constantly trying to pry information that Arthas wasn’t giving. Arthas understood their feelings, but he couldn’t reveal anything more to them at the moment. So it was really tiring to refuse to answer them all the time.

Jaina and Kael seemed to get along well. Since Arthas was mostly quiet, more focused on his memories than the present, reluctant to talk about things related to his “vision” and unable to focus on anything else, that left the other two to have discussions of their own. Luckily they were interested in the same things and they never seemed to run out of discussion topics when it came to magic. When they thought that Arthas didn’t hear them, they were often talking in whispers about what they thought about the “vision” and their journey.

Even if the two of them got along well, they were also bickering quite a lot. Before they had always been inside the city walls and now that they were travelling, they often had different ideas about what was the best way to do things. Arthas wasn’t sure how much either one of them had spent outside libraries or court, so having to do things themselves was new to them. Both of them were strong personalities and when they were convinced that they were right, they didn’t want to make compromises or back down.

Arthas wanted to stay out of their bickering, focused on his own things and if the situation needed it, saying his opinion which usually solved the problem if it was about a campsite or a route or something similar.

Jaina had been excited about the journey. She didn’t want to admit how much, but it was visible from her eyes, body language and voice. She was excited to be out there and experience new things. She had always been so curious and eager to learn new things. Arthas had always admired her for that and he couldn’t help but remember the time when Jaina had joined him to study the Plague. Jaina had been more experienced then, more confident, but just as curious and excited to be able to put all of her knowledge and skills into practice.

Still, Arthas wished that he didn’t need to burden Jaina with this whole awful mess that he knew as the future. Right now Jaina was only eighteen years old. Technically Arthas was nineteen himself, but with all of his memories and experience gained from his alternative life, he felt much older than that. He had died when he had been 31 years, so maybe that was how old he considered himself? He didn’t really know and he wasn’t sure if he cared. Still, Jaina didn’t need to get involved in this. She deserved so much better than helping Arthas to fix what had gone wrong in the other timeline. If anything bad happened to Jaina, Arthas didn’t know what he’d do. It’d be one more thing on the long list of things that he’d never forgive himself.

He had tried to tell Jaina that it’d be best if she returned to Dalaran. She shouldn’t however travel alone, so if Kael didn’t agree to return with her, she could come to Ironforge, but after that Jaina and Kael both had to return to their normal life and forget about Arthas’s vision. He’d deal with it himself.

Unsurprisingly, Jaina had said that that wasn’t going to happen. She could be stubborn.

It hadn’t been exactly easy travelling with Kael’thas. Aside from the constant pressuring, prying and questioning, he was doubting Arthas’s judgement and choices. He had made it very clear that they knew that he thought Arthas was making a mistake by trying to do everything himself and keeping things in secret from the Alliance. He wasn’t supporting Arthas the way Jaina was, he was keeping an eye on him. Arthas couldn’t really blame him for that, but it was tiring and not helping his mental state.

This Kael didn’t know him. The two of them had never properly met before, so it was only understandable that he was skeptical about a teenage brat storming into Dalaran, claiming to have seen a vision of a grim future, then refusing to tell much more about it, saying that he’ll solve everything himself. Arthas knew that he hadn’t given a really convincing picture of himself. Kael’thas was much older, much more powerful, and the elf was very aware of that. Even if the Jaina issue didn’t exist in between of the two princes now, they didn’t know how to act around each other. It was awkward and there was tension in the air whenever Kael was questioning things. It also made it harder for them to get to know each other, when Arthas was all the time absent-minded and Kael didn’t know what else to talk with him about other than “the vision”.

Arthas knew Kael a bit better, but the two of them had never been friends. Even if they hadn’t gotten along back then, he didn’t harbour anything against the elven prince. There was no way to describe the guilt and horror he felt about what he had done to the high elves and how much pain he had caused on Kael. There was no way he could ever even dream of daring to ask for forgiveness since he didn’t deserve any. Arthas regretted not even trying to become friends with him. If things would have been different, who knew if they could have become trusted allies or even good friends?

That didn’t sound very likely.

How things would go between them this time was a mystery to Arthas, but he doubted that they’d ever be really close. As long as they got along, Arthas would be happy.

A while had passed since Arthas had reached the border of the village that had then turned into the forest where they’d spend their night. The trees were evergreen and there wasn’t much undergrowth. It should have been a safe spot, but Arthas had learned to be cautious at all times, so one of them would need to keep watch.

He could hear that he was getting closer to their campsite much earlier than he saw it.

“Stop! You’re going to burn it!”

“No, I won’t! I know how to control fire! In case you don’t remember, I’ve been helping you with fire magic!”

“I haven’t forgotten, but what you’re doing doesn’t look very controlled.”

“Because you’re disturbing me!”

Arthas sighed as he walked into the scene. In the middle of their half set camp was Jaina and Kael, fighting over the control of the campfire. Kael was using fire magic, making the flames bigger, while Jaina was using frost magic to keep them smaller. On top of the fire was a chicken on a stick.

They were cooking.

Kael’s eyes flicked to Arthas, they widened a fraction and he turned his head to look at him. “Arthas,” he greeted. The flames were still licking the chicken.

Jaina turned around on her heels to face the human prince. “Arthas, you’re back. How was it?”

Arthas shrugged. “I got what we needed,” he simply said and sat down on the ground. His aching muscles were grateful for that.

“Good. Are you feeling- Hey!” Her attention had turned back to Kael as the flames had grown higher. “Kael, seriously!” She started mitigating the fire.

Kael let out an annoyed sound, narrowing his eyes at Jaina. “Could you stop it?”

“If you stop attempting to burn our food.”

Arthas barely followed their bickering. He took some bread from the bag and ripped himself a piece. Then he proceeded to cut himself a slice of cheese with his dagger. He started eating them slowly, his eyes looking blankly to the ground after a while.

Who else thought that he was dead? His family and Uther would know that he was able to take care of himself, right? He felt like there couldn’t be anything on his route to Ironforge that could really threaten his life, but then again how could he be sure that he still had his fighting skills?

Arthas stared at his palm and imagined holding a sword and swinging it. No matter how hard he tried to picture just a normal sword, the image of Frostmourne was too strong. The memory was so strong and burned into his mind that he could practically feel Frostmourne’s weight and the cold seeping into him as he held it. He could imagine Ner’zhul’s whispering to him through the sword as clear as it was happening right now.

“ _ Frostmourne hungers. _ ”

Arthas gripped the side of his head, taking a deep breath, then exhaling shakily. Frostmourne had become a part of him, or maybe him a part of it, so it was understandable why he could remember it so clearly. But right now he shouldn’t let those memories haunt him. Frostmourne was in Northrend and it couldn’t hurt him now. His soul was safe.

He had his soul, right?

“Kael!!”

The sudden loud exclamation made Arthas snap his head up.

“Are you seriously trying to ruin our meal on purpose?” Jaina asked and used an ice spell to tame the roaring flames that were roasting the chicken.

“Hey!” Kael said, irritated. “You’ll extinguish the fire!” His hands started to glow more as he used stronger magic to make the flames rise higher again.

Jaina made a frustrated sound and met Kael’s eyes. “Stop!”

“No! You stop!” Kael said and suddenly flames twice as high as the elf rose high up in the air from the campfire. Arthas felt a sudden wave of heat and he turned his head to the side to shield his eyes from the bright burning. The horses were making distressed noises and pulling their lead ropes that tied them to trees. Jaina had instantly covered her face with her arms and was backing down. Kael was only staring at the high flames, his eyes wide and wearing a surprised look.

After a couple of seconds the flames died down as Kael killed them. Jaina moved her arms to her hips as she scowled at Kael. She didn’t even say anything right away. The black, scorched chicken, dropped to the ashes of the campfire as the stick had burned away, made it unnecessary for Jaina to vocalize her thoughts.

“I… Uhh... “ Kael avoided Jaina’s eyes. “I didn’t mean to burn it.”

“But you did. I told you, you would,” Jaina said.

“I wouldn’t have if you hadn’t distracted me with your frost spells,” Kael said defensively.

“Right…”

“Next time I’ll show you that I know what I’m doing if you just let me do it.”

“If there is the next time. That was a waste of good meat.”

“I had it under control, but you-”

Jaina didn’t listen to what Kael had to say as she turned around and walked to Arthas, sitting down next to him. "Looks like we won't be eating chicken tonight." Kael huffed, muttering that he said he was sorry, which Jaina ignored. "How were things in the village? Did you hear anything interesting or more rumours?"

Arthas offered the bag of food to the girl who started looking through it. "Apparently some people think I'm dead."

Jaina looked up to meet Arthas's eyes. "Really? What did they say?"

Kael had heard Arthas and he walked closer as well, sitting next to Jaina. The sorceress didn't even glance at him.

Arthas shrugged. "Just that I had died. I imagine they think that it has something to do with the incident in Dalaran."

"Did you say anything to them?" Kael asked.

Arthas took a bite of his bread. "I told them that Prince Arthas is alive. That I work for the king in Lordaeron and my information is correct."

Jaina hummed in thought. "The rumours are getting out of hands," she said.

Kael hummed in agreement. "Although, it has only been a few days. They'll have something else to gossip about soon."

"Like how the quel'dorei prince burned an entire forest down?" Jaina asked and took a bite from an apple that she had chosen for herself.

"Really funny," Kael said in a tone that revealed that it was anything but funny. "I'd never burn a forest unless that's what I intended to do."

Jaina opened her mouth to answer, but before she managed to do that, Arthas spoke: "Eat what you want. We can buy more food from the next village. Would it be okay if I take the last watch turn?" he asked. He wanted to start sleeping as soon as possible.

"That's okay," Jaina answered.

"I can take the first watch," Kael said. "You two should go to sleep."

Arthas nodded and stood up. "Wake me if something happens," he said and made his way under a tree and laid down. He used his bag as a pillow and covered himself with his cloak. The ground was hard, but he barely even noticed it. He was utterly exhausted and even if the voice of Ner'zhul echoed in his mind, he fell asleep almost instantly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!!
> 
> In the next chapter they'll get to Ironforge and meet Muradin.


End file.
